UC-NRLF 


SB    35    521 


• 


MARIA    MITCHELL 


LIFE,   LETTERS,  AND  JOURNALS 


COMPILED    BY 

PHEBE   MITCHELL   KENDALL 


•>  •>  •>     »»•   •   •••*••••  •• 


ILLUSTRATED 


BOSTON 
LEE    AND    SHEPARD    PUBLISHERS 

10     MILK     STREET 
1896 


COPYRIGHT,  1896,  BY  LEE  AND  SHEPARD 

All  rights  reserved 


MARIA    MITCHELL 


ant)  Churdjlll 

BOSTON    U.S.A. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    I 

PAGE 

The  parents  —  Home  life  —  Education,  teachers,  books  — 
Astronomical  instruments  —  Solar  eclipse  of  1831  — 
Teaching  —  Appointment  as  librarian  of  Nantucket 
Atheneum  —  Friendships  for  young  people  —  Extracts 
from  diary,  1855  —  Music  —  The  piano  —  Society  — 
Story-telling  —  Housework  —  Extract  from  diary,  1854,  l 

CHAPTER    II 

"  Sweeping"  the  heavens  —  Discovery  of  the  comet,  1847  — 
Frederick  VI.  and  the  comet  —  Letters  from  G.  P.  Bond 
and  Hon.  Edward  Everett  —  Admiral  Smyth  —  Ameri- 
can Academy  —  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science  —  Extract  from  diary,  1855  —  Dorothea 
Dix  —  Esther  —  Divers  extracts  from  diary,  1853,  1854 

—  Comet  of  1854  —  Computations  for  comet  —  Visit  to 
Cape  Cod  —  Sandwich  and   Plymouth  —  Pilgrim  Hall 

—  Rev.  James  Freeman  Clarke  —  Accidents  in  observ- 
ing    .         .         .     '    .         .         .         .         .        .        .  19 

CHAPTER    III 

Wires  in  the  transit  instrument  —  Deacon  Greele  —  Smith- 
sonian fund  —  "  Doing  "  —  Rachel  in  "  Phedre  "  and 
"  Adrienne  "  —  Emerson  —  The  hard  winter  .  .  39 

CHAPTER    IV 

Southern  tour  —  Chicago  —  St.  Louis  —  Scientific  Academy 
of  St.  Louis  —  Dr.  Pope  —  Dr.  Seyffarth  —  Mississippi 
river  —  Sand-bars  —  Cherry  blossoms  —  Eclipse  of 


iv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

sun  —  Natchez  —  New  Orleans  —  Slave  market  —  Negro 
church  —  The  "  peculiar  institution  "  —  Bible  —  Judge 
Smith  —  Travelling  without  escort  —  Savannah  —  Rice 
plantations  —  Negro  children  —  Miss  Murray  — 
Charleston  —  Drive  —  Condition  of  slaves  —  Old  build- 
ings —  Miss  Rutledge  —  Mr.  Capers  —  Class  meeting 

—  Hospitality  —  Mrs.    Holbrook  —  Miss   Pinckney  — 
Manners   —   Portraits  —   Miss     Pinckney' s     father  — 
George   Washington  —  Augusta  —  Nashville  —  Mrs. 
Fogg  —  Mrs.    Polk  —  Charles    Sumner  —  Mammoth 
cave  —  Chattanooga          .         .        ...         .         .         -56 

CHAPTER 

First  European  tour  —  Liverpool  —  London  —  Rev.  James 
Martineau  —  Mr.  John  Taylor  —  Mr.  Lassell  —  Liver- 
pool observatory  —  The  Hawthornes  —  Shop-keepers 
and  waiters  —  Greenwich  observatory  —  Sir  George 
Airy  —  Visits  to  Greenwich  —  Herr  Struve  's  mission  to 
England  —  Dinner  party  —  General  Sabine  —  West- 
minster Abbey  —  Newton's  monument  —  British  mu- 
seum —  Four  great  men  —  St.  Paul's  —  Dr.  Johnson 

—  Opera  —  Aylesbury  —  Admiral    Smyth's   family  — 
Amateur  astronomers  —  Hartwell  house  —  Dr.  Lee       .       85 

CHAPTER    VI 

Cambridge  —  Dr.  Whewell  —  Table  conversation  —  Pro- 
fessor Challis  —  Professor  Adams  —  Customs  —  Profes- 
sor Sedgwick  —  Caste  —  King's  Chapel  —  Fellows  — 
Ambleside  —  Coniston  waters  —  The  lakes  —  Miss 
Southey  —  Collingwood  —  Letter  to  her  father  — 
Herschels  —  London  rout  —  Professor  Stokes  —  Dr. 
Arnott —  Edinboro'  —  Observatory  —  Glasgow  observa- 
tory —  Professor  Nichol  —  Dungeon  Ghyll  —  English 
language  —  English  and  Americans  —  Boys  and  beg- 
gars   112 


CONTENTS  v 

CHAPTER    VII 

PAGE 

Adams  and  Leverrier  —  The  discovery  of  the  planet  Neptune 
—  Extract  from  papers  —  Professor  Bond,  of  Cambridge, 
Mass.  —  Paris  —  Imperial  observatory  —  Mons.  and 
Mme.  Leverrier  —  Reception  at  Leverrier's  —  Rooms 
in  observatory  —  Rome  —  Impressions  —  Apartments 
in  Rome  and  Paris  —  Customs  —  Holy  week  —  Vespers 
at  St.  Peter's  —  Women  —  Frederika  Bremer  —  Paul 
Akers  —  Harriet  Hosmer —  Collegio  Romano  —  Father 
Secchi  —  Galileo  —  Visit  to  the  Roman  observatory  — 
Permission  from  Cardinal  Antonelli  —  Spectroscope  .  137 

CHAPTER    VIII 

Mrs.  Somerville  —  Berlin  —  Humboldt  —  Mrs.  Mitchell's  ill- 
ness and  death  —  Removal  to  Lynn,  Mass.  —  Telescope 
presented  to  Miss  Mitchell  by  Elizabeth  Peabody  and 
others  —  Letters  from  Admiral  Smyth  —  Colors  of 
stars  —  Extract  from  letter  to  a  friend  —  San  Marino 
medal  —  Other  extracts  .......  159 

CHAPTER    IX 

Life  at  Vassar  College  —  Anxious  mammas  —  Faculty  meet- 
ings—  President  Hill  —  Professor  Peirce  — Burlington, 
la.,  and  solar  eclipse  —  Classes  at  Vassar  —  Professor 
Mitchell  and  her  pupils  —  Extracts  from  diary  —  Aids 

—  Scholarships  —  Address  to  her  students  —  Imagina- 
tion   in    science  —  "I    am    but    a    woman"  —  Maria 
Mitchell  endowment  fund  —  Emperor  of  Brazil  —  Presi- 
dent Raymond's  death  —  Dome  parties  —  Comet,  1881 

—  The    apple-tree  —  "Honor    girls"  —  Mr.    Matthew 
Arnold     *.       '.        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .     172 

CHAPTER    X 

Second  visit  to  Europe  —  Russia  —  Extracts  from  diary  and 
letters  —  Custom-house  peculiarities  —  Russian  rail- 
ways —  Domes  —  Russian  thermometers  and  calendars 


VI  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

—  The  drosky  and  drivers  —  Observatory  at  Pulkova  — 
Herr  Struve*  —  Scientific  position  of  Russia  —  Lan- 
guage —  Religion  —  Democracy  of  the  Church  —  Gov- 
ernment —  A  Russian  family  —  London,  1873  —  Frances 
Power  Cobbe  —  Bookstores  in  London  —  Glasgow 
College  for  Girls  .  .  .  .  .  .  .197 

CHAPTER    XI 

Papers  —  Science  —  Eclipse    of    1878,    Denver,    Colorado  — 

Colors  of  stars          .        ...        .        .        .         .     220 

CHAPTER    XII 

Religious  matters  —  President  Taylor's  remarks  —  Sermons  — 
George  MacDonald  —  Rev.  Dr.  Peabody  —  Dr.  Lyman 
Abbott  —  Professor  Henry  —  Meeting  of  the  American 
Scientific  Association  at  Saratoga  —  Professor  Peirce  — 
Concord  School  of  Philosophy  —  Emerson  —  Miss  Pea- 
body  —  Dr.  Harris  —  Easter  flowers  —  Whittier  — 
Rich  days  —  Cooking  schools  —  Anecdotes  .  .  .  239 

CHAPTER    XIII 

Letter-writing  —  Woman  suffrage  —  Membership  in  various 
societies  —  Women's  Congress  at  Syracuse,  N.Y.  — 
Picnic  at  Medfield,  Mass.  —  Degrees  from  different  col- 
leges—  Published  papers  —  Failure  in  health  —  Re- 
signs her  position  at  Vassar  College  —  Letters  from 
various  persons  —  Death  —  Conclusion  .  .  .  255 

APPENDIX 

Introductory  note  by  Hon.  Edward  Everett        ....     267 
Correspondence  relative  to  the  Danish  medal    .        .        .  _  .    293 


MARIA    MITCHELL 


CHAPTER  I 

1818-1846 
BIRTH  —  PARENTS HOME   SURROUNDINGS   AND   EARLY   LIFE 

MARIA  MITCHELL  was  born  on  the  island  of  Nan- 
tucket,  Mass.,  Aug.  I,  1818.  She  was  the  third  child 
of  William  and  Lydia  [Coleman]  Mitchell. 

Her  ancestors,  on  both  sides,  were  Quakers  for  many 
generations ;  and  it  was  in  consequence  of  the  intoler- 
ance of  the  early  Puritans  that  these  ancestors  had 
been  obliged  to  flee  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts, 
and  to  settle  upon  this  island,  which,  at  that  time,  be- 
longed to  the  State  of  New  York. 

For  many  years  the  Quakers,  or  Friends,  as  they 
called  themselves,  formed  much  the  larger  part  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Nantucket,  and  thus  were  enabled  to 
crystallize,  as  it  were,  their  own  ideas  of  what  family 
and  social  life  should  be;  and  although  in  course  of 
time  many  "  world's  people  "  swooped  down  and  helped 
to  swell  the  number  of  islanders,  they  still  continued  to 
hold  their  own  methods,  and  to  bring  up  their  children 
in  accordance  with  their  own  conceptions  of  "  Divine 
light." 


2  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mitchell  were  married  during  the  war 
6t:i8i2  ;\  the  ifcttmdr  lacking  one  week  of  being  twenty- 
one  years'  old,  and  the  latter  being  a  few  months  over 

twenty;,  (j  *\\     S  /.\  !c  ? 

'fhe  people  of  Nantucket  by  their  situation  endured 
many  hardships  during  this  period ;  their  ships  were 
upon  the  sea  a  prey  to  privateers,  and  communication 
with  the  mainland  was  exposed  to  the-  same  danger, 
so  that  it  was  difficult  to  obtain  such  necessaries  of  life 
as  the  island  could  not  furnish.  There  were  still  to  be 
seen,  a  few  years  ago,  the  marks  left  on  the  moors, 
where  fields  of  corn  and  potatoes  had  been  planted  in 
that  trying  time. 

So  the  young  couple  began  their  housekeeping  in  a 
very  simple  way.  Mr.  Mitchell  used  to  describe  it  as 
being  very  delightful ;  it  was  noticed  that  Mrs.  Mitchell 
never  expressed  herself  on  the  subject,  —  it  was  she, 
probably,  who  had  the  planning  to  do,  to  make  a  little 
money  go  a  great  way,  and  to  have  everything  smooth 
and  serene  when  her  husband  came  home. 

Mrs.  Mitchell  was  a  woman  of  strong  character,  very 
dignified,  honest  almost  to  an  extreme,  and  perfectly 
self-controlled  where  control  was  necessary.  She  pos- 
sessed very  strong  affections,  but  her  self-control  was 
such  that  she  was  undemonstrative. 

She  kept  a  close  watch  over  her  children,  was  clear- 
headed, knew  their  every  fault  and  every  merit,  and 
was  an  indefatigable  worker.  It  'was  she  who  looked 
out  for  the  education  of  the  children  and  saw  what 
their  capacities  were. 

Mr.  Mitchell  was  a  man  of  great  suavity  and  gentle- 


THE    PARENTS  3 

ness ;  if  left  to  himself  he  would  never  have  denied  a 
single  request  made  to  him  by  one  of  his  children. 
His  first  impulse  was  to  gratify  every  desire  of  their 
hearts,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  clear  head  of  the 
mother,  who  took  care  that  the  household  should  be 
managed  wisely  and  economically,  the  results  might 
have  been  disastrous.  The  father  had  wisdom  enough 
to  perceive  this,  and  when  a  child  came  to  him,  and  in 
a  very  pathetic  and  winning  way  proffered  some  request 
for  an  unusual  indulgence,  he  generally  replied,  "Yes, 
if  mother  thinks  best." 

Mr.  Mitchell  was  very  fond  of  bright  colors ;  as  they 
were  excluded  from  the  dress  of  Friends,  he  indulged 
himself  wherever  it  was  possible.  If  he  were  buying 
books,  and  there  was  a  variety  of  binding,  he  always 
chose  the  copies  with  red  covers.  Even  the  wooden 
framework  of  the  reflecting  telescope  which  he  used 
was  painted  a  brilliant  red.  He  liked  a  gay  carpet  on 
the  floor,  and  the  walls  of  the  family  sitting-room  in  the 
house  on  Vestal  street  were  covered  with  paper  resplen- 
dent with  bunches  of  pink  roses.  Suspended  by  a 
cord  from  the  ceiling  in  the  centre  of  this  room  was 
a  glass  ball,  filled  with  water,  used  by  Mr.  Mitchell  in 
his  experiments  on  polarization  of  light,  flashing  its 
dancing  rainbows  about  the  room. 

At  the  back  of  this  house  was  a  little  garden,  full  of 
gay  flowers:  so  that  if  the  garb  of  the  young  Mitchells 
was  rather  sombre,  the  setting  was  bright  and  cheerful, 
and  the  life  in  the  home  was  healthy  and  wide-awake. 
When  the  hilarity  became  excessive  the  mother  would 
put  in  her  little  check,  from  time  to  time,  and  the  father 


4  MARIA    MITCHELL 

would  try  to  look  as  he  ought  to,  but  he  evidently 
enjoyed  the  whole. 

As  Mr.  Mitchell  was  kind  and  indulgent  to  his  chil- 
dren, so  he  was  the  sympathetic  friend  and  counsellor 
of  many  in  trouble  who  came  to  him  for  help  or 
advice.  As  he  took  his  daily  walk  to  the  little  farm 
about  a  mile  out  of  town,  where,  for  an  hour  or  two 
he  enjoyed  being  a  farmer,  the  people  would  come 
to  their  doors  to  speak  to  him  as  he  passed,  and  the 
little  children  would  run  up  to  him  to  be  patted  on 
the  head. 

He  treated  animals  in  the  same  way.  He  generally 
kept  a  horse.  His  children  complained  that  although 
the  horse  was  good  when  it  was  bought,  yet  as  Mr. 
Mitchell  never  allowed  it  to  be  struck  with  a  whip,  nor 
urged  to  go  at  other  than  a  very  gentle  trot,  the  horse 
became  thoroughly  demoralized,  and  was  no  more  fit  to 
drive  than  an  old  cow ! 

There  was  everything  in  the  home  which  could  amuse 
and  instruct  children.  The  eldest  daughter  was  very 
handy  at  all  sorts  of  entertaining  occupations ;  she  had 
a  delicate  sense  of  the  artistic,  and  was  quite  skilful 
with  her  pencil. 

The  present  kindergarten  system  in  its  practice  is 
almost  identical  with  the  home  as  it  appeared  in  the  first 
half  of  this  century,  among  enlightened  people.  There 
is  hardly  any  kind  of  handiwork  done  in  the  kindergar- 
ten that  was  not  done  in  the  Mitchell  family,  and  in 
other  families  of  their  acquaintance.  The  girls  learned 
to  sew  and  cook,  just  as  they  learned  to  read,  —  as 
a  matter  of  habit  rather  than  of  instruction.  They 


THE   PARENTS  5 

learned  how  to  make  their  own  clothes,  by  making  their 
dolls'  clothes,  —  and  the  dolls  themselves  were  fre- 
quently home-made,  the  eldest  sister  painting  the  faces 
much  more  prettily  than  those  obtained  at  the  shops ; 
and  there  was  a  great  delight  in  gratifying  the  fancy, 
by  dressing  the  dolls,  not  in  Quaker  garb,  but  in  all  of 
the  most  brilliant  colors  and  stylish  shapes  worn  by  the 
ultra-fashionable. 

There  were  always  plenty  of  books,  and  besides  those 
in  the  house  there  was  the  Atheneum  Library,  which, 
although  not  a  free  library,  was  very  inexpensive  to  the 
shareholders. 

There  was  another  very  striking  difference  between 
that  epoch  and  the  present.  The  children  of  that  day 
were  taught  to  value  a  book  and  to  take  excellent  care 
'of  it;  as  an  instance  it  may  be  mentioned  that  one  copy 
of  Colburn's  "  Algebra  "  was  used  by  eight  children  in 
the  Mitchell  family,  one  after  the  other.  The  eldest 
daughter's  name  was  written  on  the  inside  of  the  cover ; 
seven  more  names  followed  in  the  order  of  their  ages, 
as  the  book  descended. 

With  regard  to  their  reading,  the  mother  examined 
every  book  that  came  into  the  house.  Of  course  there 
were  not  so  many  books  published  then  as  now,  and  the 
same  books  were  read  over  and  over.  Miss  Edgeworth's 
stories  became  part  of  their  very  lives,  and  Young's 
"  Night  Thoughts,"  and  the  poems  of  Cowper  and 
Bloomfield  were  conspicuous  objects  on  the  book- 
shelves of  most  houses  in  those  days.  Mr.  Mitchell 
was  very  apt,  while  observing  the  heavens  in  the  even- 
ing, to  quote  from  one  or  the  other  of  these  poets,  or 


6  MARIA    MITCHELL 

from  the  Bible.  "  An  undevout  astronomer  is  mad  "  was 
one  of  his  favorite  quotations. 

Among  the  poems  which  Maria  learned  in  her  child- 
hood, and  which  was  repeatedly  upon  her  lips  all 
through  her  life,  was,  "  The  spacious  firmament  on 
high."  In  her  latter  years  if  she  had  a  sudden  fright 
which  threatened  to  take  away  her  senses  she  would  test 
her  mental  condition  by  repeating  that  poem ;  it  is 
needless  to  say  that  she  always  remembered  it,  and  her 
nerves  instantly  relapsed  into  their  natural  condition. 

The  lives  of  Maria  Mitchell  and  her  numerous 
brothers  and  sisters  were  passed  in  simplicity  and  with 
an  entire  absence  of  anything  exciting  or  abnormal. 

The  education  of  their  children  is  enjoined  upon  the 
parents  by  the  "  Discipline,"  and  in  those  days  at  least 
the  parents  did  not  give  up  all  the  responsibility  in  that 
line  to  the  teachers.  In  Maria  Mitchell's  childhood  the 
children  of  a  family  sat  around  the  table  in  the  evenings 
and  studied  their  lessons  for  the  next  day,  —  the  parents 
or  the  older  children  assisting  the  younger  if  the  lessons 
were  too  difficult.  The  children  attended  school  five 
days  in  the  week,  —  six  hours  in  the  day,  —  and  their 
only  vacation  was  four  weeks  in  the  summer,  generally 
in  August. 

The  idea  that  children  over-studied  and  injured  their 
health  was  never  promulgated  in  that  family,  nor  indeed 
in  that  community;  it  seems  to  be  a  notion  of  the 
present  half-century. 

Maria's  first  teacher  was  a  lady  for  whom  she  always 
felt  the  warmest  affection,  and  in  her  diary,  written  in 
her  later  years,  occurs  this  allusion  to  her: 


THE   PARENTS  7 

"  I  count  in  my  life,  outside  of  family  relatives,  three 
aids  given  me  on  my  journey ;  they  are  prominent  to 
me :  the  woman  who  first  made  the  study-book  charm- 
ing; the  man  who  sent  me  the  first  hundred  dollars  I 
ever  saw,  to  buy  books  with ;  and  another  noble  woman, 
through  whose  efforts  I  became  the  owner  of  a  tele- 
scope ;  and  of  these,  the  first  was  the  greatest." 

As  a  little  girl,  Maria  was  not  a  brilliant  scholar ;  she 
was  shy  and  slow ;  but  later,  under  her  father's  tuition, 
she  developed  very  rapidly. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  when  business  was 
resumed  and  the  town  restored  to  its  normal  prosperity, 
Mr.  Mitchell  taught  school,  —  at  first  as  master  of  a 
public  school,  and  afterwards  in  a  private  school  of  his 
own.  Maria  attended  both  of  these  schools. 

Mr.  Mitchell's  pupils  speak  of  him  as  a  most  inspiring 
teacher,  and  he  always  spoke  of  his  experiences  in  that 
capacity  as  very  happy. 

When  her  father  gave  up  teaching,  Maria  was  put 
under  the  instruction  of  Mr.  Cyrus  Peirce,  afterwards 
principal  of  the  first  normal  school  started  in  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Peirce  took  a  great  interest  in  Maria,  especially 
in  developing  her  taste  for  mathematical  study,  for 
which  she  early  showed  a  remarkable  talent. 

The  books  which  she  studied  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
as  we  know  by  the  date  of  the  notes,  were  Bridge's 
"  Conic  Sections,"  Hutton's  "  Mathematics,"  and  Bow- 
ditch's  "Navigator."  At  that  time  Prof.  Benjamin 
Peirce  had  not  published  his  "  Explanations  of  the  Nav- 
igator and  Almanac,"  so  that  Maria  was  obliged  to 


8  MARIA    MITCHELL 

consult  many  scientific  books  and  reports  before  she 
could  herself  construct  the  astronomical  tables. 

Mr.  Mitchell,  on  relinquishing  school-teaching,  was 
appointed  cashier  of  the'  Pacific  Bank;  but  although  he 
gave  up  teaching,  he  by  no  means  gave  up  studying  his 
favorite  science,  astronomy,  and  Maria  was  his  willing 
helper  at  all  times. 

Mr.  Mitchell  from  his  early  youth  was  an  enthusias- 
tic student  of  astronomy,  at  a  time,  too,  when  very  little 
attention  was  given  to  that  study  in  this  country.  His 
evenings,  when  pleasant,  were  spent  in  observing  the 
heavens,  and  to  the  children,  accustomed  to  seeing  such 
observations  going  on,  the  important  study  in  the  world 
seemed  to  be  astronomy.  One  by  one,  as  they  became 
old  enough,  they  were  drafted  into  the  service  of  count- 
ing seconds  by  the  chronometer,  during  the  observa- 
tions. 

Some  of  them  took  an  interest  in  the  thing  itself,  and 
others  considered  it  rather  stupid  work,  but  they  all 
drank  in  so  much  of  this  atmosphere,  that  if  any  one 
had  asked  a  little  child  in  this  family,  "  Who  was  the 
greatest  man  that  ever  lived?  "  the  answer  would  have 
come  promptly,  "  Herschel." 

Maria  very  early  learned  the  use  of  the  sextant 
The  chronometers  of  all  the  whale  ships  were  brought 
to  Mr.  Mitchell,  on  their  return  from  a  voyage,  to  be 
"  rated,"  as  it  was  called.  For  this  purpose  he  used  the 
sextant,  and  the  observations  were  made  in  the  little 
back  yard  of  the  Vestal-street  home. 

There  was  also  a  clumsy  reflecting  telescope  made 
on  the  Herschelian  plan,  but  of  very  great  simplicity, 


THE-  PARENTS  9 

which  was  put  up  on  fine  nights  in  the  same  back  yard, 
when  the  neighbors  used  to  flock  in  to  look  at  the 
moon.  Afterwards  Mr.  Mitchell  bought  a  small  Dol- 
land  telescope,  which  thereafter,  as  long  as  she  lived, 
his  daughter  used  for  "  sweeping  "  purposes. 

After  their  removal  to  the  bank  building  there  were 
added  to  these  an  "  altitude  and  azimuth  circle,"  loaned 
to  Mr.  Mitchell  by  West  Point  Academy,  and  two 
transit  instruments.  A  little  observatory  for  the  use  of 
the  first  was  placed  on  the  roof  of  the  bank  building, 
and  two  small  buildings  were  erected  in  the  yard  for  the 
transits.  There  was  also  a  much  larger  and  finer  tele- 
scope loaned  by  the  Coast  Survey,  for  which  service 
Mr.  Mitchell  made  observations. 

At  the  time  when  Maria  Mitchell  showed  a  decided 
taste  for  the  study  of  astronomy  there  was  no  school  in 
the  world  where  she  could  be  taught  higher  mathe- 
matics and  astronomy.  Harvard  College,  at  that  time, 
had  no  telescope  better  than  the  one  which  her  father 
was  using,  and  no  observatory  except  the  little  octag- 
onal projection  to  the  old  mansion  in  Cambridge 
occupied  by  the  late  Dr.  A.  P.  Peabody. 

However,  every  one  will  admit  that  no  school  nor 
institution  is  better  for  a  child  than  the  home,  with  an 
enthusiastic  parent  for  a  teacher. 

At  the  time  of  the  annular  eclipse  of  the  sun  in  1831 
the  totality  was  central  at  Nantucket.  The  window  was 
taken  out  of  the  parlor  on  Vestal  street,  the  telescope, 
the  little  Dolland,  mounted  in  front  of  it,  and  with  Maria 
by  his  side  counting  the  seconds  the  father  observed 
the  eclipse.  Maria  was  then  twelve  years  old. 


10  MARIA    MITCHELL 

At  sixteen  Miss  Mitchell  left  Mr.  Peirce's  schcn  -s  a 
pupil,  but  was  retained  as  assistant  teacher;  she  on 
relinquished  that  position  and  opened  a  private  s'  ool 
on  Traders'  Lane.  This  school  too  she  gave  up  for  the 
position  of  librarian  of  the  Nantucket  Atheneum,  winch 
office  she  held  for  nearly  twenty  years. 

This  library  was  open  only  in  the  afternoon,  and  on 
Saturday  evening.  The  visitors  were  comparatively 
few  in  the  afternoon,  so  that  Miss  Mitchell  had  ample 
leisure  for  study,  —  an  opportunity  of  which  she  made 
the  most,  Her  visitors  in  the  afternoon  were  elderly 
men  of  leisure,  who  enjoyed  talking  with  so  bright  a 
girl  on  their  favorite  hobbies.  When  they  talked  Miss 
Mitchell  closed  her  book  and  took  up  her  knitting,  for 
she  was  never  idle.  With  some  of  these  visitors  the 
friendship  was  kept  up  for  years. 

It  was  in  this  library  that  she  found  La  Place's 
"  Mecanique  Celeste,"  translated  by  her  father's  friend, 
Dr.  Bowditch ;  she  also  read  the  "Theoria  Motus,"  of 
Gauss,  in  its  original  Latin  form.  In  her  capacity  as 
librarian  Miss  Mitchell  to  a  large  extent  controlled  the 
reading  of  the  young  people  in  the  town.  Many  of 
them  on  arriving  at  mature  years  have  expressed  their 
gratitude  for  the  direction  in  which  their  reading  was 
turned  by  her  advice. 

Miss  Mitchell  always  had  a  special  friendship  for 
young  girls  and  boys.  Many  of  these  intimacies  grew 
out  of  the  acquaintance  made  at  the  library,  —  the 
young  girls  made  her  their  confidante  and  went  to  her 
for  sympathy  and  advice.  The  boys,  as  they  grew  up, 
and  went  away  to  sea,  perhaps,  always  remembered  her, 


THE   PARENTS  1 1 

and  made  a  point,  when  they  returned  in  their  vaca- 
tions, of  coming  to  tell  their  experiences  to  such  a 
sympathetic  listener. 

"April  1 8,  1855.  A  young  sailor  boy  came  to  see  me 
to-day.  It  pleases  me  to  have  these  lads  seek  me  on 
their  return  from  their  first  voyage,  and  tell  me  how 
much  they  have  learned  about  navigation.  They 
always  say,  with  pride,  '  I  can  take  a  lunar,  Miss 
Mitchell,  and  work  it  up  !  ' 

"This  boy  I  had  known  only  as  a  boy,  but  he  has 
suddenly  become  a  man  and  seems  to  be  full  of  intelli- 
gence. He  will  go  once  more  as  a  sailor,  he  says,  and 
then  try  for  the  position  of  second  mate.  He  looked  as 
if  he  had  been  a  good  boy  and  would  make  a  good 
man. 

"  He  said  that  he  had  been  ill  so  much  that  he  had 
been  kept  out  of  temptation ;  but  that  the  forecastle 
of  a  ship  was  no  place  for  improvement  of  mind  or 
morals.  He  said  the  captain  with  whom  he  came  home 
asked  him  if  he  knew  me,  because  he  had  heard  of  me. 
I  was  glad  to  find  that  the  captain  was  a  man  of  intelli- 
gence and  had  been  kind  to  the  boy." 

Miss  Mitchell  was  an  inveterate  reader.  She  de- 
voured books  on  all  subjects.  If  she  saw  that  boys 
were  eagerly  reading  a  certain  book  she  immediately 
read  it;  if  it  were  harmless  she  encouraged  them  to 
read  it ;  if  otherwise,  she  had  a  convenient  way  of  los- 
ing the  book.  In  November,  when  the  trustees  made 
their  annual  examination,  the  book  appeared  upon  the 
shelf,  but  the  next  day  after  it  was  again  lost.  At 
this  time  Nantucket  was  a  thriving,  busy  town.  The 


12  MARIA    MITCHELL 

whale-fishery  was  a  very  profitable  business,  and  the 
town  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  in  the  State.  There 
was  a  good  deal  of  social  and  literary  life.  In  a  Friend's 
family  neither  music  nor  dancing  was  allowed. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mitchell  were  by  no  means  narrow  sec- 
tarians, but  they  believed  it  to  be  best  to  conform  to 
the  rules  of  Friends  as  laid  down  in  the  "  Discipline." 
George  Fox  himself,  the  founder  of  the  society,  had 
blown  a  blast  against  music,  and  especially  instrumental 
music  in  churches.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the 
Methodists  have  but  recently  yielded  to  the  popular 
demand  in  this  respect,  and  have  especially  favored 
congregational  singing. 

It  is  most  likely  that  George  Fox  had  no  ear  for 
music  himself,  and  thus  entailed  upon  his  followers  an 
obligation  from  which  they  are  but  now  freeing  them- 
selves. 

There  was  plenty  of  singing  in  the  Mitchell  family, 
and  the  parents  liked  it,  especially  the  father,  who,  when 
he  sat  down  in  the  evening  with  the  children,  would  say, 
"  Now  sing  something."  But  there  could  be  no  instruc- 
tion in  singing ;  the  children  sang  the  songs  that  they 
picked  up  from  their  playmates. 

However,  one  of  the  daughters  bought  a  piano,  and 
Maria's  purse  opened  to  help  that  cause  along.  It 
would  not  have  been  proper  for  Mr.  Mitchell  to  help 
pay  for  it,  but  he  took  a  great  interest  in  it,  nevertheless. 
So  indeed  did  the  mother,  but  she  took  care  not  to 
express  herself  outwardly. 

The  piano  was  kept  in  a  neighboring  building  not  too 
far  off  to  be  heard  from  the  house.  Maria  had  no  ear 


THE    PARENTS  13 

for  music  herself,  but  she  was  always  to  be  depended 
upon  to  take  the  lead  in  an  emergency,  so  the  sisters 
put  their  heads  together  and  decided  that  the  piano 
must  be  brought  into  the  house.  When  they  had  made 
all  the  preparations  the  father  and  mother  were  invited 
to  take  tea  with  their  married  daughter,  who  lived  in 
another  part  of  the  town  and  had  been  let  into  the 
secret. 

The  piano  was  duly  removed  and  placed  in  an  upper 
room  called  the  "  hall,"  where  Mr.  Mitchell  kept  the 
chronometers,  where  the  family  sewing  was  done,  and 
where  the  larger  part  of  the  books  were  kept,  —  a 
beautiful  room,  overlooking  "  the  square,"  and  a  great 
gathering-place  for  all  their  young  friends.  When  the 
piano  was  put  in  place,  the  sisters  awaited  the  coming 
of  the  parents.  Maria  stationed  herself  at  the  foot  of 
the  stairs,  ready  to  meet  them  as  they  entered  the  front 
door ;  another,  half-way-  between,  was  to  give  the  signal 
to  a  third,  who  was  seated  at  the  piano.  The  footsteps 
were  heard  at  the  door,  the  signal  was  given ;  a  lively 
tune  was  started,  and  Maria  confronted  the  parents  as 
they  entered. 

"  What's  that?  "  was  the  exclamation. 

"Well,"  said  Maria,  soothingly,  "  we've  had  the  piano 
brought  over." 

"  Why,  of  all  things  !  "  exclaimed  the  mother. 

The  father  laid  down  his  hat,  walked  immediately 
upstairs,  entered  the  hall,  and  said,  "  Come,  daughter, 
play  something  lively  !  " 

So  that  was  all. 

But  that  was  not  all  for  Mr.  Mitchell ;   he  had  broken 


14  MARIA    MITCHELL 

the  rules  accepted  by  the  Friends,  and  it  was  necessary 
for  some  notice  to  be  taken  of  it,  so  a  dear  old  Friend 
and  neighbor  came  to  deal  with  him.  Now,  to  be 
"  under  dealings,"  as  it  is  called,  was  a  very  serious 
matter,  —  to  be  spoken  of  only  under  the  breath,  in  a 
half  whisper. 

"  I  hear  that  thee  has  a  piano  in  thy  house,"  said  the 
old  Friend. 

"  Yes,  my  daughters  have,"  was  the  reply. 

"  But  it  is  in  thy  house,"  pursued  the  Friend. 

"  Yes ;  but  my  home  is  my  children's  home  as  well 
as  mine,"  said  Mr.  Mitchell,  "  and  I  propose  that  they 
shall  not  be  obliged  to  go  away  from  home  for  their 
pleasures.  I  don't  play  on  the  piano." 

It  so  happened  that  Mr.  Mitchell  held  the  property 
of  the  "monthly  meeting"  in  his  hands  at  the  time, 
and  it  was  a  very  improper  thing  for  the  accredited 
agent  of  the  society  to  be  "  under  dealings,"  as  Mr. 
Mitchell  gently  suggested. 

This  the  Friend  had  not  thought  of,  and  so  he  said, 
"  Well,  William,  perhaps  we'd  better  say  no  more  about 
it." 

When  the  father  came  home  after  this  interview  he 
could  not  keep  it  to  himself.  If  it  had  been  the  mother 
who  was  interviewed  she  would  have  kept  it  a  profound 
secret,  —  because  she  would  not  have  liked  to  have  her 
children  get  any  fun  out  of  the  proceedings  of  the  old 
Friend.'  But  Mr.  Mitchell  told  the  story  in  his  quiet 
way,  the  daughters  enjoyed  it,  and  declared  that  the 
piano  was  placed  upon  a  firm  foothold  by  this  proceed- 
ing. The  news  spread  abroad,  and  several  other  young 


THE   PARENTS  15 

Quaker  girls  eagerly  seized  the  occasion  to  gratify  their 
musical  longings  in  the  same  direction.1 

Few  women  with  scientific  tastes  had  the  advantages 
which  surrounded  Miss  Mitchell  in  her  own  home. 
Her  father  was  acquainted  with  the  most  prominent 
scientific  men  in  the  country,  and  in  his  hospitable 
home  at  Nantucket  she  met  many  persons  of  distinc- 
tion in  literature  and  science. 

She  cared  but  little  for  general  society,  and  had  al- 
ways to  be  coaxed  to  go  into  company.  Later  in  life, 
however,  she  was  much  more  socially  inclined,  and  took 
pleasure  in  making  and  receiving  visits.  She  could 
neither  dance  nor  sing,  but  in  all  amusements  which 
require  quickness  and  a  ready  wit  she  was  very  happy. 
She  was  very  fond  of  children,  and  knew  how  to  amuse 
them  and  to  take  care  of  them.  As  she  had  half  a 
dozen  younger  brothers  and  sisters,  she  had  ample 
opportunity  to  make  herself  useful. 

She  was  a  capital  story-teller,  and  always  had  a  story 
on  hand  to  divert  a  wayward  child,  or  to  soothe  the 
little  sister  who  was  lying  awake,  and  afraid  of  the  dark. 
She  wrote  a  great  many  little  stories,  printed  them  with 
a  pen,  and  bound  them  in  pretty  covers.  Most  of 
them  were  destroyed  long  ago. 

Maria  took  her  part  in  all  the  household  work.  She 
knew  how  to  do  everything  that  has  to  be  done  in  a 
large  family  where  but  one  servant  is  kept,  and  she  did 
everything  thoroughly.  If  she  swept  a  room  it  became 

1  It  is  pleasant  to  note  that  this  objection  to  music  among  Friends  is  a  thing 
of  the  past,  and  that  the  Friends'  School  at  Providence,  R.I.,  which  is  under 
the  control  of  the  "  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends,"  has  music  in 
its  regular  curriculum. 


1 6  MARIA    MITCHELL 

clean.  She  might  not  rearrange  the  different  articles  of 
furniture  in  the  most  artistic  manner,  but  everything 
would  be  clean,  and  there  would  be  nothing  left  crooked. 
If  a  chair  was  to  be  placed,  it  would  be  parallel  to 
something ;  she  was  exceedingly  sensitive  to  a  line  out 
of  the  perpendicular,  and  could  detect  the  slightest 
deviation  from  that  rule.  She  had  also  a  sensitive  eye 
in  the  matter  of  color,  and  felt  any  lack  of  harmony  in 
the  colors  worn  by  those  about  her. 

Maria  was  always  ready  to  "  bear  the  brunt,"  and 
could  at  any  time  be  coaxed  by  the  younger  children  to 
do  the  things  which  they  found  difficult  or  disagreeable. 

The  two  youngest  children  in  the  family  were  deli- 
cate, and  the  special  care  of  the  youngest  sister  de- 
volved upon  Maria,  who  knew  how  to  be  a  good  nurse 
as  well  as  a  good  playfellow.  She  was  especially  care- 
ful of  a  timid  child ;  she  herself  was  timid,  and,  through- 
out her  life,  could  never  witness  a  thunder-storm  with 
any  calmness. 

On  one  of  those  occasions  so  common  in  an  Ameri- 
can household,  when  the  one  servant  suddenly  takes  her 
leave,  or  is  summarily  dismissed,  Miss  Mitchell  de- 
scribes her  part  of  the  family  duties : 

"Oct.  21,  1854.  This  morning  I  arose  at  six,  having 
been  half  asleep  only  for  some  hours,  fearing  that  I 
might  not  be  up  in  time  to  get  breakfast,  a  task  which  I 
had  volunteered  to  do  the  preceding  evening.  It  was  but 
half  light,  and  I  made  a  hasty  toilet.  I  made  a  fire  very 
quickly,  prepared  the  coffee,  baked  the  graham  bread, 
toasted  white  bread,  trimmed  the  solar  lamp,  and  made 
another  fire  in  the  dining-room  before  seven  o'clock. 


THE   PARENTS  1 7 

"  I  always  thought  that  servant- girls  had  an  easy  time 
of  it,  and  I  still  think  so.  I  really  found  an  hour  too 
long  for  all  this,  and  when  I  rang  the  bell  at  seven  for 
breakfast  I  had  been  waiting  fifteen  minutes  for  the 
clock  to  strike. 

"  I  went  to  the  Atheneum  at  9.30,  and  having  de- 
cided that  I  would  take  the  Newark  and  Cambridge 
places  of  the  comet,  and  work  them  up,  I  did  so,  getting 
to  the  three  equations  before  I  went  home  to  dinner 
at  12.30.  I  omitted  the  corrections  of  parallax  and 
aberrations,  not  intending  to  get  more  than  a  rough 
approximation.  I  find  to  my  sorrow  that  they  do  not 
agree  with  those  from  my  own  observations.  I  shall 
look  over  them  again  next  week. 

"  At  noon  I  ran  around  and  did  up  several  errands, 
dined,  and  was  back  again  at  my  post  by  1.30.  Then  I 
looked  over  my  morning's  work,  —  I  can  find  no  mis- 
take. I  have  worn  myself  thin  trying  to  find  out  about 
this  comet,  and  I  know  very  little  now  in  the  matter. 

"  I  saw,  in  looking  over  Cooper,  elements  of  a  comet 
of  1825  which  resemble  what  I  get  out  for  this,  from 
my  own  observations,  but  I  cannot  rely  upon  my  own. 

"  I  saw  also,  to-day,  in  the  '  Monthly  Notices,'  a  plan 
for  measuring  the  light  of  stars  by  degrees  of  illumina- 
tion, —  an  idea  which  had  occurred  to  me  long  ago, 
but  which  I  have  not  practised. 

"  October  23.  Yesterday  I  was  again  reminded  of  the 
remark  which  Mrs.  Stowe  makes  about  the  variety  of 
occupations  which  an  American  woman  pursues. 

"  She  says  it  is  this,  added  to  the  cares  and  anxieties, 


1 8  MARIA    MITCHELL 

which  keeps  them  so  much  behind  the  daughters  of 
England  in  personal  beauty. 

''And  to-day  I  was  amused  at  reading  that  one  of  her 
party  objected  to  the  introduction  of  waxed  floors  into 
American  housekeeping,  because  she  could  seem  to  see 
herself  down  on  her  knees  doing  the  waxing. 

"  But  of  yesterday.  I  was  up  before  six,  made  the 
fire  in  the  kitchen,  and  made  coffee.  Then  I  set  the 
table  in  the  dining-room,  and  made  the  fire  there. 
Toasted  bread  and  trimmed  lamps.  Rang  the  break- 
fast bell  at  seven.  After  breakfast,  made  my  bed, 
and  'put  up'  the  room.  Then  I  came  down  to  the 
Atheneum  and  looked  over  my  comet  computations 
till  noon.  Before  dinner  I  did  some  tatting,  and  made 
seven  button-holes  for  K.  I  dressed  and  then  dined. 
Came  back  again  to  the  Atheneum  at  1.30,  and  looked 
over  another  set  of  computations,  which  took  me  until 
four  o'clock.  I  was  pretty  tired  by  that  time,  and 
rested  by  reading  '  Cosmos.'  Lizzie  E.  came  in,  and  I 
gossiped  for  half  an  hour.  I  went  home  to  tea,  and 
that  over,  I  made  a  loaf  of  bread.  Then  I  went  up  to 
my  room  and  read  through  (partly  writing)  two  exer- 
cises in  German,  which  took  me  thirty-five  minutes. 

"  It  was  stormy,  and  I  had  no  observing  to  do,  so  I  sat 
down  to  my  tatting.  Lizzie  E.  came  in  and  I  took  a 
new  lesson  in  tatting,  so  as  to  make  the  pearl-edged. 
I  made  about  half  a  yard  during  the  evening.  At  a 
little  after  nine  I  went  home  with  Lizzie,  and  carried  a 
letter  to  the  post-office.  I  had  kept  steadily  at  work  for 
sixteen  hours  when  I  went  to  bed." 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER   DIARY  19 


CHAPTER   II   ' 

1847-1854 

MISS  MITCHELL'S  COMET  —  EXTRACTS  FROM  DIARY  —  THE  COMET 

MlSS  MITCHELL  spent  every  clear  evening  on  the 
house-top  "  sweeping  "  the  heavens. 

No  matter  how  many  guests  there  might  be  in  the 
parlor,  Miss  Mitchell  would  slip  out,  don  her  regimentals 
as  she  called  them,  and,  lantern  in  hand,  mount  to  the 
roof. 

On  the  evening  of  Oct.  i,  1847,  there  was  a  party  of 
invited  guests  at  the  Mitchell  home.  As  usual,  Maria 
slipped  out,  ran  up  to  the  telescope,  and  soon  returned 
to  the  parlor  and  told  her  father  that  she  thought  she 
saw  a  comet.  Mr.  Mitchell  hurried  upstairs,  stationed 
himself  at  the  telescope,  and  as  soon  as  he  looked  at 
the  object  pointed  out  by  his  daughter  declared  it  to 
be  a  comet.  Miss  Mitchell,  with  her  usual  caution, 
advised  him  to  say  nothing  about  it  until  they  had 
observed  it  long  enough  to  be  tolerably  sure.  But  Mr. 
Mitchell  immediately  wrote  to  Professor  Bond,  at 
Cambridge,  announcing  the  discovery.  On  account  of 
stormy  weather,  the  mails  did  not  leave  Nantucket  until 
October  3. 

-  Frederick  VI.,  King  of  Denmark,  had  offered,  Dec. 
17,  1831,  a  gold  medal  of  the  value  of  twenty  ducats  to 
the  first  discoverer  of  a  telescopic  comet.  The  regula- 


20  MARIA    MITCHELL 

tions,  as  revised  and  amended,  were  republished,  in 
April,  1840,  in  the  "  Astronomische  Nachrichten." 

When  this  comet  was  discovered,  the  king  who  had 
offered  the  medal  was  dead.  The  son,  Frederick  VIL, 
who  had  succeeded  him,  had  not  the  interest  in  science 
which  belonged  to  his  father,  but  he  was  prevailed  upon 
to  carry  out  his  father's  designs  in  this  particular  case. 

The  same  comet  had  been  seen  by  Father  de  Vico  at 
Rome,  on  October  3,  at  7.30  P.M.,  and  this  fact  was 
immediately  communicated  by  him  to  Professor  Schu- 
macher, at  Altona.  On  the  /th  of  October,  at  9.20 
P.M.,  the  comet  was  observed  by  Mr.  W.  R.  Dawes,  at 
Kent,  England,  and  on  the  I  ith  it  was  seen  by  Madame 
Riimker,  the  wife  of  the  director  of  the  observatory  at 
Hamburg. 

The  following  letter  from  the  younger  Bond  will  show 
the  cordial  relations  existing  between  the  observatory 
at  Cambridge  and  the  smaller  station  at  Nantucket : 

CAMBRIDGE,  Oct.  20,  1847. 

DEAR  MARIA  :  There  !  I  think  that  is  a  very  amiable  begin- 
ning, considering  the  way  in  which  I  have  been  treated  by  you ! 
If  you  are  going  to  find  any  more  comets,  can  you  not  wait  till 
they  are  announced  by  the  proper  authorities?  At  least,  don't  kid- 
nap another  such  as  this  last  was. 

If  my  object  were  to  make  you  fear  and  tremble,  I  should  tell 
you  that  on  the  evening  of  the  3Oth  I  was  sweeping  within  a  few 
degrees  of  your  prize.  I  merely  throw  out  the  hint  for  what  it  is 
worth . 

It  has  been  very  interesting  to  watch  the  motion  of  this  comet 
among  the  stars  with  the  great  refractor;  we  could  almost  see 
it  move. 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  21 

An  account  of  its    passage  over   the   star   mentioned  by  your 
father  when  he 'was    here,  would   make  an  interesting  notice  for 
one  of  the  foreign  journals,  which  we  would  readily  forward.    .    .    . 
[Here  follow  Mr.  Bond's  observations.] 
Respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

G.  P.  BOND. 

Hon.  Edward  Everett,  who  at  that  time  was  presi- 
dent of  Harvard  College,  took  a  great  interest  in  the 
matter,  and  immediately  opened  a  correspondence  with 
the  proper  authorities,  and  sent  a  notice  of  the  dis- 
covery to  the  "  Astronomische  Nachrichten." 

The  priority  of  Miss  Mitchell's  discovery  was  im- 
mediately admitted  throughout  Europe. 

The  King  of  Denmark  very  promptly  referred  the 
matter  to  Professor  Schumacher,  who  reported  in  favor 
of  granting  the  medal  to  Miss  Mitchell,  and  the  medal 
was  duly  struck  off  and  forwarded  to  Mr.  Everett. 

Among  European  astronomers  who  urged  Miss 
Mitchell's  claim  was  Admiral  Smyth,  whom  she  knew 
through  his  "  Celestial  Cycle,"  and  who  later,  on  her 
visit  to  England,  became  a  warm  personal  friend. 
Madame  Riimker,  also,  sent  congratulations. 

Mr.  Everett  announced  the  receipt  of  the  medal  to 
Miss  Mitchell  in  the  following  letter: 

CAMBRIDGE,  March  29,  1849. 

MY  DEAR  Miss  MITCHELL:  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform 
you  that  your  medal  arrived  by  the  last  steamer ;  it  reached  me  by 
mail,  yesterday  afternoon. 

I  went  to  Boston  this  morning,  hoping  to  find  you  at  the  Adams 
House,  to  put  it  into  your  own  hand. 


22  MARIA    MITCHELL 

As  your  return  to  Nantucket  prevented  this,  I,  of  course,  retain 
it,  subject  to  your  orders,  not  liking  to  take  the  risk  again  of  its 
transmission  by  mail. 

Having  it  in  this  way  in  my  hand,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
show  it  to  some  friends,  such  as  W.  C.  Bond,  Professor  Peirce,  the 
editors  of  the  "Transcript,"  and  the  members  of  my  family,  — 
which  I  hope  you  will  pardon. 

I  remain,  my  dear  Miss  Mitchell,  with  great  regard, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

EDWARD  EVERETT.' 

In  1848  Miss  Mitchell  was  elected  to  membership  by 
x  the  "  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,"  unani- 
mously ;  she  was  the  first  and  only  woman  ever  ad- 
mitted. In  the  diploma  the  printed  word  "  Fellow"  is 
erased,  and  the  words  "  Honorary  Member  "  inserted  by 
Dr.  Asa  Gray,  who  signed  the  document  as  secretary. 
Some  years  later,  however,  her  name  is  found  in  the  list 
of  Fellows  of  this  Academy,  also  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute and  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science.  For  many  years  she  attended  the 
annual  conventions  of  this  last-mentioned  association,  in 
which  she  took  great  interest. 

The  extract  below  refers  to  one  of  these  meetings, 
probably  that  of  1855  : 

"  August  23.  It  is  really  amusing  to  find  one's  self 
lionized  in  a  city  where  one  has  visited  quietly  for 
years ;  to  see  the  doors  of  fashionable  mansions  open 
wide  to  receive  you,  which  never  opened  before.  I  sus- 
pect that  the  whole  corps  of  science  laughs  in  its 
sleeves  at  the  farce. 


1  See  Appendix. 


EXTRACTS    FROM   HER    DIARY  23 

"The  leaders  make  it  pay  pretty  well.  My  friend 
Professor  Bache  makes  the  occasions  the  opportunities 
for  working  sundry  little  wheels,  pulleys,  and  levers  ;  the 
result  of  all  which  is  that  he  gets  his  enormous  appro- 
priations of  $400,000  out  of  Congress,  every  winter,  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey. 

"  For  a  few  days  Science  reigns  supreme,  —  we  are 
f£ted  and  complimented  to  the  top  of  our  bent,  and  al- 
though complimenters  and  complimented  must  feel  that 
it  is  only  a  sort  of  theatrical  performance,  for  a  few 
days  and  over,  one  does  enjoy  acting  the  part  of  great- 
ness for  a  while  !  I  was  tired  after  three  days  of  it,  and 
glad  to  take  the  cars  and  run  away. 

"  The  descent  into  a  commoner  was  rather  sudden.  I 
went  alone  to  Boston,  and  when  I  reached  out  my  free 
pass,  the  conductor  read  it  through  and  handed  it  back, 
saying  in  a  gruff  voice,  '  It's  worth  nothing ;  a  dollar 
and  a  quarter  to  Boston.'  Think  what  a  downfall !  the 
night  before,  and 

'  One  blast  upon  my  bugle  horn 
Were  worth  a  hundred  men  !  ' 

Now  one  man  alone  was  my  dependence,  and  that 
man  looked  very  much  inclined  to  put  me  out  of  the 
car  for  attempting  to  pass  a  ticket  that  in  his  eyes  was 
valueless.  Of  course  I  took  it  quietly,  and  paid  the 
money,  merely  remarking,  '  You  will  pass  a  hundred  per- 
sons on  this  road  in  a  few  days  on  these  same  tickets.' 
"  When  I  look  back  on  the  paper  read  at  this  meeting 

by  Mr.  J in  his  uncouth  manner,  I   think  when  a 

man  is  thoroughly  in  earnest,  how  careless  he  is  of  mere 
words!  " 


24  MARIA    MITCHELL 

In  1849  Miss  Mitchell  was  asked  by  the  late  Admiral 
Davis,  who  had  just  taken  charge  of  the  American 
Nautical  Almanac,  to  act  as  computer  for  that  work,  —  a 
proposition  to  which  she  gladly  assented,  and  for  nine- 
teen years  she  held  that  position  in  addition  to  her 
other  duties.  This,  of  course,  made  a  very  desirable 
increase  to  her  income,  but  not  necessarily  to  her  ex- 
penses. The  tables  of  the  planet  Venus  were  assigned 
to  her.  In  this  year,  too,  she  was  employed  by  Pro- 
fessor Bache,  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey,  in  the 
work  of  an  astronomical  party  at  Mount  Independence, 
Maine. 

"1853.  I  was  told  that  Miss  Dix  wished  to  see  me", 
and  I  called  upon  her.  It  was  dusk,  and  I  did  not  at 
once  see  her;  her  voice  was  low,  not  particularly 
sweet,  but  very  gentle.  She  told  me  that  she  had  heard 
Professor  Henry  speak  of  me,  and  that  Professor  Henry 
was  one  of  her  best  friends,  the  truest  man  she  knew. 
When  the  lights  were  brought  in  I  looked  at  her.  She 
must  be  past  fifty,  she  is  rather  small,  dresses  indif- 
ferently, has  good  features  in  general,  but  indifferent 
eyes.  She  does  not  brighten  up  in  countenance  in 
conversing.  She  is  so  successful  that  I  suppose  there 
must  be  a  hidden  fire  somewhere,  for  heat  is  a  motive 
power,  and  her  cold  manners  could  never  move  Legis- 
latures. I  saw  some  outburst  of  fire  when  Mrs.  Hale's 
book  was  spoken  of.  It  seems  Mrs.  Hale  wrote  to  her 
for  permission  to  publish  a  notice  of  her,  and  was 
decidedly  refused ;  another  letter  met  with  the  same 
answer,  yet  she  wrote  a  *  Life",'  which  Miss  Dix  says 
is  utterly  false. 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  2$ 

"  In  her  general  sympathy  for  suffering  humanity, 
Miss  Dix  seems  neglectful  of  the  individual  interest. 
She  has  no  family  connection  but  a  brother,  has  never 
had  sisters,  and  she  seemed  to  take  little  interest  in  the 
persons  whom  she  met.  I  was  surprised  at  her  feeling 
any  desire  to  see  me.  She  is  not  strikingly  interesting 
in  conversation,  because  she  is  so  grave,  so  cold,  and 
so  quiet.  I  asked  her  if  she  did  not  become  at  times 
weary  and  discouraged ;  and  she  said,  wearied,  but  not 
discouraged,  for  she  had  met  with  nothing  but  success. 
There  is  evidently  a  strong  will  which  carries  all  be- 
fore it,  not  like  the  sweep  of  the  hurricane,  but  like  the 
slow,  steady,  and  powerful  march  of  the  molten  lava. 

"It  is  sad  to  see  a  woman  sacrificing  the  ties  of  the 
affections  even  to  do  good.  I  have  no  doubt  Miss  Dix 
does  much  good,  but  a  woman  needs  a  home  and  the 
love  of  other  women  at  least,  if  she  lives  without  that 
of  man." 

The  following  entry  was  made  many  years  after :  — 

"  August,  1871.  I  have  just  seen  Miss  Dix  again, 
having  met  her  only  once  for  a  few  minutes  in  all  the 
eighteen  years.  She  listened  to  a  story  of  mine  about 
some  girls  in  need,  and  then  astonished  me  by  an  offer 
she  made  me." 

"Feb.  15,  1853.  I  think  Dr.  Hall  [in  his  '  Life  of  Mary 
Ware ']  does  wrong  when  he  attempts  to  encourage  the 
use  of  the  needle.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  needle  is 
the  chain  of  woman,  and  has  fettered  her  more  than  the 
laws  of  the  country. 

"  Once  emancipate  her  from  the  '  stitch,  stitch,  stitch,' 
the  industry  of  which  would  be  commendable  if  it 


26  MARIA    MITCHELL 

served  any  purpose  except  the  gratification  of  her 
vanity,  and  she  would  have  time  for  studies  which  would 
engross  as  the  needle  never  can.  I  would  as  soon  put 
a  girl  alone  into  a  closet  to  meditate  as  give  her  only 
the  society  of  her  needle.  The  art  of  sewing,  so  far  as 
men  learn  it,  is  well  enough ;  that  is,  to  enable  a  person 
to  take  the  stitches,  and,  if  necessary,  to  make  her  own 
garments  in  a  strong  manner ;  but  the  dressmaker  should 
no  more  be  a  universal  character  than  the  carpenter. 
Suppose  every  man  should  feel  it  is  his  duty  to  do  his 
own  mechanical  work  of  all  kinds,  would  society  be 
benefited?  would  the  work  be  well  done?  Yet  a 
woman  is  expected  to  know  how  to  do  all  kinds  of  sew- 
ing, all  kinds  of  cooking,  all  kinds  of  any  woman 's  work, 
and  the  consequence  is  that  life  is  passed  in  learning 
these  only,  while  the  universe  of  truth  beyond  remains 
unentered. 

"  May  1 1,  1853.  I  could  not  help  thinking  of  Esther 
[a  much-loved  cousin  who  had  recently  died]  a  few 
evenings  since  when  I  was  observing.  A  meteor  flashed 
upon  me  suddenly,  very  bright,  very  short-lived ;  it 
seemed  to  me  that  it  was  sent  for  me  especially,  for  it 
greeted  me  almost  the  first  instant  I  looked  up,  and  was 
gone  in  a  second,  —  it  was  as  fleeting  and  as  beautiful 
as  the  smile  upon  Esther's  face  the  last  time  I  saw  her. 
I  thought  when  I  talked  with  her  about  death  that, 
though  she  could  not  come  to  me  visibly,  she  might  be 
able  to  influence  my  feelings ;  but  it  cannot  be,  for  my 
faith  has  been  weaker  than  ever  since  she  died,  and  my 
fears  have  been  greater." 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  2/ 

A  few  pages  farther  on  in  the  diary  appears  this 
poem: 

"  ESTHER 
"  Living,  the  hearts  of  all  around 

Sought  hers  as  slaves  a  throne  ; 
Dying,  the  reason  first  we  found  — 
The  fulness  of  her  own. 

"  She  gave  unconsciously  the  while 
A  wealth  we  all  might  share  — 
To  me  the  memory  of  the  smile 
That  last  I  saw  her  wear. 

"  Earth  lost  from  out  its  meagre  store 

A  bright  and  precious  stone  ; 
Heaven  could  not  be  so  rich  before, 
But  it  has  richer  grown." 

"Sept.  19,  1853.  I  am  surprised  to  find  the  verse 
which  I  picked  up  somewhere  and  have  always  ad- 
mired — 

<c  '  Oh,  reader,  had  you  in  your  mind 

Such  stores  as  silent  thought  can  bring, 
Oh,  gentle  reader,  you  would  find 
A  tale  in  everything  '  — 

belonging  to  Wordsworth  and  to  one  of  Wordsworth's 
simple,  I  am  almost  ready  to  say  silly,  poems.  I  am 
in  doubt  what  to  think  of  Wordsworth.  I  should  be 
ashamed  of  some  of  his  poems  if  I  had  written  them 
myself,  and  yet  there  are  points  of  great  beauty,  and 
lines  which  once  in  the  mind  will  not  leave  it. 

"  Oct.  31,  1853.  People  have  to  learn  sometimes  not 
only  how  much  the  heart,  but  how  much  the  head,  can 
bear.  My  letter  came  from  Cambridge  [the  Harvard 


28  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Observatory],  and  I  had  some  work  to  do  over.  It  was 
a  wearyful  job,  but  by  dint  of  shutting  myself  up  all 
day  I  did  manage  to  get  through  with  it.  The  good  of 
my  travelling  showed  itself  then,  when  I  was  too  tired 
to  read,  to  listen,  or  to  talk  ;  for  the  beautiful  scenery  of 
the  West  was  with  me  in  the  evening,  instead  of  the 
tedious  columns  of  logarithms.  It  is  a  blessed  thing 
that  these  pictures  keep  in  the  mind  and  come  out  at 
the  needful  hour.  I  did  not  call  them,  but  they  seemed 
to  come  forth  as  a  regulator  for  my  tired  brain,  as  if 
they  had  been  set  sentinel-like  to  watch  a  proper  time 
to  appear. 

"  November,  1853;  There  is  said  to  be  no  up  or  down 
in  creation,  but  I  think  the  world  must  be  low,  for 
people  who  keep  themselves  constantly  before  it  do  a 
great  deal  of  stooping ! 

"  Dec.  8,  1853.  Last  night  we  had  the  first  meeting 
of  the  class  in  elocution.  It  was  very  pleasant,  but  my 
deficiency  of  ear  was  never  more  apparent  to  myself. 
We  had  exercises  in  the  ascending  scale,  and  I  prac- 
tised after  I  came  home,  with  the  family  as  audience. 
H.  says  my  ear  is  competent  only  to  vulgar  hearing, 
and  I  cannot  appreciate  nice  distinctions.  ...  I 
am  sure  that  I  shall  never  say  that  if  I  had  been  properly 
educated  I  should  have  made  a  singer,  a  dancer,  or  a 
painter  —  I  should  have  failed  less,  perhaps,  in  the  last. 
.  .  .  Coloring  I  might  have  been  good  in,  for  I  do 
think  my  eyes  are  better  than  those  of  any  one  I  know. 

"Feb.  1 8,  1854.  If  I  should  make  out  a  calendar  by 
my  feelings  of  fatigue,  I  should  say  there  were  six  Sat- 
urdays in  the  week  and  one  Sunday. 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  29 

"  Mr. somewhat  ridicules  my  plan  of  reading 

Milton  with  a  view  to  his  astronomy,  but  I  have  found 
it  very  pleasant,  and  have  certainly  a  juster  idea  of 
Milton's  variety  of  greatness  than  I  had  before.  I  have 
filled  several  sheets  with  my  annotations  on  the  '  Para- 
dise Lost,'  which  I  may  find  useful  if  I  should  ever 
be  obliged  to  teach,  either  as  a  schoolma'am  or  a 
lecturer. 1 

"March  2,  1854.  I  'swept 'last  night  two  hours, 
by  three  periods.  It  was  a  grand  night  —  not  a  breath 
of  air,  not  a  fringe  of  a  cloud,  all  clear,  all  beautiful.  I 
really  enjoy  that  kind  of  work,  but  my  back  soon  be- 
comes tired,  long  before  the  cold  chills  me.  I  saw  two 
nebulae  in  Leo  with  which  I  was  not  familiar,  and  that 
repaid  me  for  the  time.  I  am  always  the  better  for 
open-air  breathing,  and  was  certainly  meant  for  the 
wandering  life  of  the  Indian. 

"Sept.  12,  1854.  I  am  just  through  with  a  summer, 
and  a  summer  is  to  me  always  a  trying  ordeal.  I  have 
determined  not  to  spend  so  much  time  at  the  Athe- 
neum  another  season,  but  to  put  some  one  in  my  place 
who  shall  see  the  strange  faces  and  hear  the  strange  talk. 

"How  much  talk  there  is  about  religion!  Giles2  I 
like  the  best,  for  he  seems,  like  myself,  to  have  no  set- 
tled views,  and  to  be  religious  only  in  feeling-  He  says 
he  has  no  piety,  but  a  great  sense  of  infinity. 

"  Yesterday  I  had  a  Shaker  visitor,  and  to-day  a 
Catholic ;  and  the  more  I  see  and  hear,  the  less  do  I 

1  This  paper  has  been  printed  since  Miss  Mitchell's  death  in  "  Poet-lore," 
June-July,  1894. 

*  Rev.  Henry  Giles. 


30  MARIA    MITCHELL 

care  about  church  doctrines.  The  Catholic,  a  priest,  I 
have  known  as  an  Atheneum  visitor  for  some  time.  He 
talked  to-day,  on  my  asking  him  some  questions,  and 
talked  better  than  I  expected.  He  is  plainly  full  of 
intelligence,  full  of  enthusiasm  for  his  religion,  and, 
I  suspect,  full  of  bigotry.  I  do  not  believe  he  will  die 
a  Catholic  priest.  A  young  man  of  his  temperament 
must  find  it  hard  to  live  without  family  ties,  and  I  shall 
expect  to  hear,  if  I  ever  hear  of  him  again,  that  some 
good  little  Irish  girl  has  made  him  forget  his  vows. 

"My  visitors,  in  other  respects,  have  been  of  the  aver- 
age sort.  Four  women  have  been  delighted  to  make 
my  acquaintance  —  three  men  have  thought  them- 
selves in  the  presence  of  a  superior  being;  one  offered 
me  twenty-five  cents  because  I  reached  him  the  key  of 
the  museum.  One  woman  has  opened  a  correspond- 
ence with  me,  and  several  have  told  me  that  they  knew 
friends  of  mine ;  two  have  spoken  of  me  in  small  let- 
ters to  small  newspapers ;  one  said  he  didn't  see  me, 
and  one  said  he  did  !  I  have  become  hardened  to  all ; 
neither  compliment  nor  quarter-dollar  rouses  any  emo- 
tion. My  fit  of  humility,  which  has  troubled  me  all 
summer,  is  shaken,  however,  by  the  first  cool  breeze  of 
autumn  and  the  first  walk  taken  without  perspiration. 

"Sept.  22,  1854.  On  the  evening  of  the  i8th,  while 
'  sweeping,'  there  came  into  the  field  the  two  nebulae 
in  Ursa  Major,  which  I  have  known  for  many  a  year, 
but  which  to  my  surprise  now  appeared  to  be  three. 
The  upper  one,  as  seen  from  an  inverting  telescope, 
appeared  double-headed,  like  one  near  the  Dolphin, 
but  much  more  decided  than  that,  the  space  between  the 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  31 

two  heads  being  very  plainly  discernible  and  subtend- 
ing a  decided  angle.  The  bright  part  of  this  object 
was  clearly  the  old  nebula — but  what  was  the  append- 
age? Had  the  nebula  suddenly  changed?  Was  it  a 
comet,  or  was  it  merely  a  very  fine  night?  Father 
decided  at  once  for  the  comet;  I  hesitated,  with  my 
usual  cowardice,  and  forbade  his  giving  it  a  notice  in 
the  newspaper. 

"I  watched  it  from  8.30  to  11.30  almost  without 
cessation,  and  was  quite  sure  at  11.30  that  its  position 
had  changed  with  regard  to  the  neighboring  stars.  I 
counted  its  distance  from  the  known  nebula  several 
times,  but  the  whole  affair  was  difficult,  for  there  were 
flying  clouds,  and  sometimes  the  nebula  and  comet 
were  too  indistinct  to  be  definitely  seen. 

"The  i Qth  was  cloudy  and  the  2Oth  the  same,  with 
the  variety  of  occasional  breaks,  through  which  I  saw 
the  nebula,  but  not  the  comet. 

"  On  the  2  ist  came  a  circular,  and  behold  Mr.  Van 
Arsdale  had  seen  it  on  the  I3th,  but  had  not  been  sure 
of  it  until  the  1 5th,  on  account  of  the  clouds. 

"  I  was  too  well  pleased  with  having  really  made  the 
discovery  to  care  because  I  was  not  first. 

"  Let  the  Dutchman  have  the  reward  of  his  sturdier 
frame  and  steadier  nerves  ! 

"  Especially  could  I  be  a.gChristian  because  the  1 3th 
was  cloudy,  and  more  especially  because  I  dreaded  the 
responsibility  of  making  the  computations,  nolens 
voletis,  which  I  must  have  done  to  be  able  to  call  it 
mine.  .  .  . 

"  I  made  observations  for  three  hours  last  night,  and 


32  MARIA    MITCHELL 

am  almost  ill  to-day  from  fatigue ;  still  I  have  worked 
all  day,  trying  to  reduce  the  places,  and  mean  to  work 
hard  again  to-night. 

"Sept.  25,  1854.  I  began  to  recompute  for  the 
comet,  with  observations  of  Cambridge  and  Washington, 
to-day.  I  have  had  a  fit  of  despondency  in  consequence 
of  being  obliged  to  renounce  my  own  observations  as 
too  rough  for  use.  The  best  that  can  be  said  of  my 
life  so  far  is  that  it  has  been  industrious,  and  the  best 
that  can  be  said  of  me  is  that  I  have  not  pretended  to 
what  I  was  not. 

"  October  10.  As  soon  as  I  had  run  through  the 
computations  roughly  for  the  comet,  so  as  to  make  up 
my  mind  that  by  my  own  observations  (which  were 
very  wrong)  the  Perihelion  was  passed,  and  nothing 
more  to  be  hoped  for  from  observations,  I  seized  upon  a 
pleasant  day  and  went  to  the  Cape  for  an  excursion. 
We  went  to  Yarmouth,  Sandwich,  and  Plymouth,  enjoy- 
ing the  novelty  of  the  new  car-route.  It  really  seemed 
like  railway  travelling  on  our  own  island,  so  much  sand 
and  so  flat  a  country. 

"  The  little  towns,  too,  seemed  quaint  and  odd,  and 
the  old  gray  cottages  looked  as  if  they  belonged  to  the 
last  century,  and  were  waked  from  a  long  nap  by  the 
railway  whistle. 

"  I  thought  Sandwich  a  beautiful,  and  Plymouth  an 
interesting,  town.  I  would  fain  have  gone  off  into  some 
poetical  quotation,  such  as  '  The  breaking  waves  dashed 
high'  or  'The  Pilgrim  fathers,  where  are  they?'  but 
K.,  who  had  been  there  before,  desired  me  not  to  be 
absurd,  but  to  step  quietly  on  to  the  half-buried  rock 


EXTRACTS    FROM   HER    DIARY  33 

and  quietly  off.  Younger  sisters  know  a  deal,  so  I  did 
as  I  was  bidden  to  do,  and  it  was  just  as  well  not  to 
make  myself  hoarse  without  an  appreciative  audience. 

"  I  liked  the  picture  by  Sargent  in  Pilgrim  Hall,  but 
seeing  Plymouth  on  a  mild,  sunny  day,  with  everything 
looking  bright  and  pleasant,  it  was  difficult  to  conceive 
of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  as  an  event,  or  that  the 
settling  of  such  a  charming  spot  required  any  heroism. 

"  The  picture,  of  course,  represents  the  dreariness  of 
winter,  and  my  feelings  were  moved  by  the  chilled 
appearance  of  the  little  children,  and  the  pathetic 
countenance  cf  little  Peregrine  White,  who,  considering 
that  he  was  born  in  the  harbor,  is  wonderfully  grown 
up  before  they  are  welcomed  by  Samoset.  According 
to  history  little  Peregrine  was  born  about  December  6 
and  Samoset  met  them  about  March  16;  so  he  was 
three  months  old,  but  he  is  plainly  a  forward  child,  for 
he  looks  up  very  knowingly.  Such  a  child  had  immor- 
tality thrust  upon  him  from  his  birth.  It  must  have  had 
a  deadening  influence  upon  him  to  know  that  he  was  a 
marked  man  whether  he  did  anything  worthy  of  mark 
or  not.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  made  any  figure 
after  his  entrance  into  the  world,  though  he  must  have 
created  a  great  sensation  when  he  came. 

"  October  17.  I  have  just  gone  over  my  comet  com- 
putations again,  and  it  is  humiliating  to  perceive  how 
very  little  more  I  know  than  I  did  seven  years  ago 
when  I  first  did  this  kind  of  work.  To  be  sure,  I  have 
only  once  in  the  time  computed  a  parabolic  orbit;  but 
it  seems  to  me  that  I  know  no  more  in  general.  I  think 
I  am  a  little  better  thinker,  that  I  take  things  less  upon 


34  MARIA    MITCHELL 

trust,  but  at  the  same  time  I  trust  myself  much  less. 
The  world  of  learning  is  so  broad,  and  the  human  soul 
is  so  limited  in  power !  We  reach  forth  and  strain 
every  nerve,  but  we  seize  only  a  bit  of  the  curtain  that 
hides  the  infinite  from  us. 

"Will  it  really  unroll  to  us  at  some  future  time? 
Aside  from  the  gratification  of  the  affections  in  another 
world,  that  of  the  intellect  must  be  great  if  it  is  enlarged 
and  its  desires  are  the  same. 

"Nov.  24,  1854.  Yesterday  James  Freeman  Clarke, 
the  biographer  of  Margaret  Fuller,  came  into  the 
Atheneum.  It  was  plain  that  he  came  to  see  me  and 
not  the  institution.  :  *  .  He  rushed  into  talk  at 
once,  mostly  on  people,  and  asked  me  about  my  astro- 
nomical labors.  As  it  was  a  kind  of  flattery,  I  repaid  it 
in  kind  by  asking  him  about  Margaret  Fuller.  He  said 
she  did  not  strike  any  one  as  a  person  of  intellect  or  as 
a  student,  for  all  her  faculties  were  kept  so  much  abreast 
that  none  had  prominence.  I  wanted  to  ask  if  she  was 
a  lovable  person,  but  I  did  not  think  he  would  be  an 
unbiassed  judge,  she  was  so  much  attached  to  him. 

"Dec.  5,  1854.  The  love  of  one's  own  sex  is 
precious,  for  it  is  neither  provoked  by  vanity  nor  re- 
tained by  flattery;  it  is  genuine  and  sincere.  I  am 
grateful  that  I  have  had  much  of  this  in  my  life. 

"  The  comet  looked  in  upon  us  on  the  29th.  It  made 
a  twilight  call,  looking  sunny  and  bright,  as  if  it  had 
just  warmed  itself  in  the  equinoctial  rays.  A  boy  on 
the  street  called  my  attention  to  it,  but  I  found  on 
hurrying  home  that  father  had  already  seen  it,  and  had 
ranged  it  behind  buildings  so  as  to  get  a  rough  position. 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  35 

"  It  was  piping  cold,  but  we  went  to  work  in  good 
earnest  that  night,  and  the  next  night  on  which  we 
could  see  it,  which  was  not  until  April. 

"  I  was  dreadfully  busy,  and  a  host  of  little  annoyances 
crowded  upon  me.  I  had  a  good  star  near  it  in  the 
field  of  my  comet-seeker,  but  what  star? 

"  On  that  rested  everything,  and  I  could  not  be  sure 
even  from  the  catalogue,  for  the  comet  and  the  star 
were  so  much  in  the  twilight  that  I  could  get  no  good 
neighboring  stars.  We  called  it  ©  Arietes,  or  707. 

"  Then  came  a  waxing  moon,  and  we  waxed  weary  in 
trying  to  trace  the  fainter  and  fainter  comet  in  the  mists 
of  twilight  and  the  glare  of  moonlight. 

"  Next  I  broke  a  screw  of  my  instrument,  and  found 
that  no  screw  of  that  description  could  be  bought  in  the 
town. 

"  I  started  off  to  find  a  man  who  could  make  one, 
and  engaged  him  to  do  so  the  next  day.  The  next 
day  was  Fast  Day;  all  the  world  fasted,  at  least  from 
labor. 

"  However,  the  screw  was  made,  and  it  fitted  nicely. 
The  clouds  cleared,  and  we  were  likely  to  have  a  good 
night.  I  put  up  my  instrument,  but  scarcely  had  the 
screw-driver  touched  the  new  screw  than  out  it  flew 
from  its  socket,  rolled  along  the  floor  of  the  '  walk/ 
dropped  quietly  through  a  crack  into  the  gutter  of  the 
house-roof.  I  heard  it  click,  and  felt  very  much  like 
using  language  unbecoming  to  a  woman's  mouth. 

"  I  put  my  eye  down  to  the  crack,  but  could  not  see  it. 
There  was  but  one  thing  to  be  done,  —  the  floor-boards 
must  come  up.  I  got  a  hatchet,  but  could  do  nothing. 


36  MARIA    MITCHELL 

I  called  father;  he  brought  a  crowbar  and  pried  up  the 
board,  then  crawled  under  it  and  found  the  screw.  I 
took  good  care  not  to  lose  it  a  second  time. 

"  The  instrument  was  fairly  mounted  when  the  clouds 
mounted  to  keep  it  company,  and  the  comet  and  I 
again  parted. 

"  In  all  observations,  the  blowing  out  of  a  light  by  a 
gust  of  wind  is  a  very  common  and  very  annoying 
accident ;  but  I  once  met  with  a  much  worse  one,  for  I 
dropped  a  chronometer,  and  it  rolled  out  of  its  box  on 
to  the  ground.  We  picked  it  up  in  a  great  panic,  but 
it  had  not  even  altered  its  rate,  as  we  found  by  later 
observations. 

"  The  glaring  eyes  of  the  cat,  who  nightly  visited  me, 
were  at  one  time  very  annoying,  and  a  man  who 
climbed  up  a  fence  and  spoke  to  me,  in  the  stillness  of 
the  small  hours,  fairly  shook  not  only  my  equanimity, 
but  the  pencil  which  I  held  in  my  hand.  He  was 
quite  innocent  of  any  intention  to  do  me  harm,  but  he 
gave  me  a  great  fright. 

"  The  spiders  and  bugs  which  swarm  in  my  observing- 
houses  I  have  rather  an  attachment  for,  but  they  must 
not  crawl  over  my  recording-paper.  Rats  are  my 
abhorrence,  and  I  learned  with  pleasure  that  some 
poison  had  been  placed  under  the  transit-house. 

"  One  gets  attached  (if  the  term  may  be  used)  to  cer- 
tain midnight  apparitions.  The  Aurora  Borealis  is 
always  a  pleasant  companion ;  a  meteor  seems  to  come 
like  a  messenger  from  departed  spirits ;  and  the  blos- 
soming of  trees  in  the  moonlight  becomes  a  sight  looked 
for  with  pleasure. 


EXTRACTS    FROM   HER    DIARY  37 

•'  Aside  from  the  study  of  astronomy,  there  is  the 
same  enjoyment  in  a  night  upon  the  housetop,  with  the 
stars,  as  in  the  midst  of  other  grand  scenery;  there  is 
the  same  subdued  quiet  and  grateful  seriousness ;  a 
calm  to  the  troubled  spirit,  and  a  hope  to  the  de- 
sponding. 

"  Even  astronomers  who  are  as  well  cared  for  as  are 
those  of  Cambridge  have  their  annoyances,  and  even 
men  as  skilled  as  they  are  make  blunders. 

"  I  have  known  one  of  the  Bonds,1  with  great  effort, 
turn  that  huge  telescope  down  to  the  horizon  to  make 
an  observation  upon  a  blazing  comet  seen  there,  and 
when  he  had  found  it  in  his  glass,  find  also  that  it 
was  not  a  comet,  but  the  nebula  of  Andromeda,  a 
cluster  of  stars  on  which  he  had  spent  much  time,  and 
which  he  had  made  a  special  object  of  study. 

"  Dec.  26,  1854.  They  were  wonderful  men,  the  early 
astronomers.  That  was  a  great  conception,  which  now 
seems  to  us  so  simple,  that  the  earth  turns  upon  its 
axis,  and  a  still  greater  one  that  it  revolves  about  the 
sun  (to  show  this  last  was  worth  a  man's  lifetime,  and 
it  really  almost  cost  the  life  of  Galileo).  Somehow  we 
are  ready  to  think  that  they  had  a  wider  field  than 
we  for  speculation,  that  truth  being  all  unknown  it 
was  easier  to  take  the  first  step  in  its  paths.  But  is 
the  region  of  truth  limited?  Is  it  not  infinite?  .  .  . 
We  know  a  few  things  which  were  once  hidden,  and 
being  known  they  seem  easy ;  but  there  are  the  flash- 
ings of  the  Northern  Lights  —  'Across  the  lift  they 
start  and  shift;'  there  is  the  conical  zodiacal  beam 

1  Of  the  Harvard  College  Observatory. 


38  MARIA    MITCHELL 

seen  so  beautifully  in  the  early  evenings  of  spring  and 
the  early  mornings  of  autumn ;  there  are  the  startling 
comets,  whose  use  is  all  unknown;  there  are  the 
brightening  and  flickering  variable  stars,  whose  cause  is 
all  unknown;  and  the  meteoric  showers — and  for  all 
of  these  the  reasons  are  as  clear  as  for  the  succession 
of  day  and  night;  they  lie  just  beyond  the  daily 
mist  of  our  minds,  but  our  eyes  have  not  yet  pierced 
through  it." 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  39 


CHAPTER   III 

1855-1857 

EXTRACTS    FROM     DIARY  RACHEL  EMERSON  A     HARD 

WINTER 

"JAN.  r,  1855.  -  I  Put  some  wires  into  my  little  transit 
this  morning.  I  dreaded  it  so  much,  when  I  found  yes- 
terday that  it  must  be  done,  that  it  disturbed  my  sleep. 
It  was  much  easier  than  I  expected.  I  took  out  the 
little  collimating  screws  first,  then  I  drew  out  the  tube, 
and  in  that  I  found  a  brass  plate  screwed  on  the  dia- 
phragm which  contained  the  lines.  I  was  at  first  a 
little  puzzled  to  know  which  screws  held  this  diaphragm 
in  its  place,  and,  as  I  was  very  anxious  not  to  unscrew 
the  wrong  ones,  I  took  time  to  consider  and  found  I 
need  turn  only  two.  Then  out  slipped  the  little  plate 
with  its  three  wires  where  five  should  have  been,  two 
having  been  broken.  As  I  did  not  know  how  to  man- 
age a  spider's  web,  I  took  the  hairs  from  my  own  head, 
taking  care  to  pick  out  white  ones  because  I  have  no 
black  ones  to  spare.  .1  put  in  the  two,  after  first  stretching 
them  over  pasteboard,  by  sticking  them  with  sealing- 
wax  dissolved  in  alcohol  into  the  little  grooved  lines 
which  I  found.  When  I  had,  with  great  labor,  adjusted 
these,  as  I  thougjit,  firmly,  I  perceived  that  some  of  the 
wax  was  on  the  hairs  and  would  make  them  yet  coarser, 
and  they  were  already  too  coarse ;  so  I  washed  my  little 


40  MARIA    MITCHELL 

camel's-hair  brush  which  I  had  been  using,  and  began 
to  wash  them  with  clear  alcohol.  Almost  at  once  I 
washed  out  another  wire  and  soon  another  and  another. 
I  went  to  work  patiently  and  put  in  the  five  perpendic- 
ular ones  besides  the  horizontal  one,  which,  like  the 
others,  had  frizzled  up  and  appeared  to  melt  away. 
With  another  hour's  labor  I  got  in  the  five,  when  a  rude 
motion  raised  them  all  again  and  I  began  over.  Just  at 
one  o'clock  I  had  got  them  all  in  again.  I  attempted 
then  to  put  the  diaphragm  back  into  its  place.  The 
sealing-wax  was  not  dry,  and  with  a  little  jar  I  sent  the 
wires  all  agog.  This  time  they  did  not  come  out  of 
the  little  grooved  lines  into  which  they  were  put,  and  I 
hastened  to  take  out  the  brass  plate  and  set  them  in 
parallel  lines.  I  gave  up  then  for  the  day,  but,  as  they 
looked  well  and  were  certainly  in  firmly,  I  did  not  con- 
sider that  I  had  made  an  entire  failure.  I  thought  it 
nice  ladylike  work  to  manage  such  slight  threads  and 
turn  such  delicate  screws ;  but  fine  as  are  the  hairs  of 
one's  head,  I  shall  seek  something  finer,  for  I  can  see 
how  clumsy  they  will  appear  when  I  get  on  the  eyepiece 
and  magnify  their  imperfections.  They  look  parallel  now 
to  the  eye,  but  with  a  magnifying  power  a  very  little 
crook  will  seem  a  billowy  wave,  and  a  faint  star  will  hide 
itself  in  one  of  the  yawning  abysses. 

"  January  15.  Finding  the  hairs  which  I  had  put  into 
my  instrument  not  only  too  coarse,  but  variable  and 
disposed  to  curl  themselves  up  at  a  change  of  weather, 
I  wrote  to  George  Bond  to  ask  him  how  I  should  pro- 
cure spider  lines.  He  replied  that  the  web  from 
cocoons  should  be  used,  and  that  I  should  find  it 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  41 

difficult  at  this  time  of  year  to  get  at  them.  I  remem- 
bered at  once  that  I  had  seen  two  in  the  library  room 
of  the  Atheneum,  which  I  had  carefully  refrained  from 
disturbing.  I  found  them  perfect,  and  unrolled  them. 
.  .  .  Fearing  that  I  might  not  succeed  in  managing 
them,  I  procured  some  hairs  from  C.'s  head.  C.  being 
not  quite  a  year  old,  his  hair  is  remarkably  fine  and 
sufficiently  long.  ...  I  made  the  perpendicular 
wires  of  the  spider's  webs,  breaking  them  and  doing  the 
work  over  again  a  great  many  times.  ...  I  at 
length  got  all  in,  crossing  the  five  perpendicular  ones 
with  a  horizontal  one  from  C.'s  spinning-wheel.  .  .  . 
After  twenty-four  hours'  exposure  to  the  weather,  I 
looked  at  them.  The  spider-webs  had  not  changed, 
they  were  plainly  used  to  a  chill  and  made  to  endure 
changes  of  temperature ;  but  C.'s  hair,  which  had  never 
felt  a  cold  greater  than  that  of  the  nursery,  nor  a  change 
more  decided  than  from  his  mother's  arms  to  his 
father's,  had  knotted  up  into  a  decided  curl !  —  N.B.  C. 
may  expect  rirtglets. 

"January  22.  Horace  Greeley,  in  an  article  in  a 
recent  number  of  the  '  Tribune,'  says  that  the  fund  left 
by  Smithson  is  spent  by  the  regents  of  that  institution 
in  publishing  books  which  no  publisher  would  under- 
take and  which  do  no  good  to  anybody.  Now  in  our 
little  town  of  Nantucket,  with  our  little  Atheneum, 
these  volumes  are  in  constant  demand.  . 

"  I  do  not  suppose  that  such  works  as  those  issued 
by  the  Smithsonian  regents  are  appreciated  by  all  who 
turn  them  over,  but  the  ignorant  .learn  that  such  things 
exist;  they  perceive  that  a  higher  cultivation  than 


42  MARIA    MITCHELL 

theirs  is  in  the  world,  and  they  are  stimulated  to  strive 
after  greater  excellence.  So  I  steadily  advocate,  in 
purchasing  books  for  the  Atheneum,  the  lifting  of  the 
people.  'Let  us  buy,  not  such  books  as  the  people 
want,  but  books  just  above  their  wants,  and  they  will 
reach  up  to  take  what  is  put  out  for  them/ 

"Sept.  10,  1855.  To  know  what  one  ought  to  do  is 
certainly  the  hardest  thing  in  life.  'Doing'  is  com- 
paratively easy ;  but  there  are  no  laws  for  your  indi- 
vidual case  —  yours  is  one  of  a  myriad. 

"  There  are  laws  of  right  and  wrong  in  general,  but 
they  do  not  seem  to  bear  upon  any  particular  case. 

"  In  chess-playing  you  can  refer  to  rules  of  movement, 
for'  the  chess-men  are  few,  and  the  positions  in  which 
they  may  be  placed,  numerous  as  they  are,  have  a 
limit. 

"  But  is  there  any  limit  to  the  different  positions  of 
human  beings  around  you?  Is  there  any  limit  to  the 
peculiarities  of  circumstances? 

"  Here  a  man,  however  much  of  a  copyist  he  may  be 
by  nature,  comes  down  to  simple  originality,  unless  he 
blindly  follows  the  advice  of  some  friend ;  for  there  is 
no  precedent  in  anything  exactly  like  his  case;  he 
must  decide  for  himself,  and  must  take  the  step  alone; 
and  fearfully,  cautiously,  and  distrustingly  must  we  all 
take  many  of  our  steps,  for  we  see  but  a  little  way  at 
best,  and  we  can  foresee  nothing  at  all. 

"September  13.  I  read  this  morning  an  article  in 
'  Putnam's  Magazine,'  on  Rachel.  I  have  been  much 
interested  in  this  woman  as  a  genius,  though  I  am  pained 
by  the  accounts  of  her  career  in  point  of  morals,  and  I 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  43 

am  wearied  with  the  glitter  of  her  jewelry.  Night  puts 
on  a  jewelled  robe  which  few  admire,  compared  with 
the  admiration  for  marketable  jewelry.  The  New  York 
'  Tribune  '  descends  to  the  rating  of  the  value  of  those 
worn  by  her,  and  it  is  the  prominent  point,  or  rather 
it  makes  the  multitude  of  prominent  points,  when  she  is 
spoken  of. 

"  The  writer  in  '  Putnam '  does  not  go  into  these 
small  matters,  but  he  attempts  a  criticism  on  acting,  to 
which  I  am  not  entirely  a  convert.  He  maintains  that 
if  an  actor  should  really  show  a  character  in  such  light 
that  we  could  not  tell  the  impersonation  from  the 
reality,  the  stage  would  lose  its  interest.  I  do  not 
think  so.  We  should  draw  back,  of  course,  from  physi- 
cal suffering;  but  yet  we  should  be  charmed  to  suppose 
anything  real,  which  we  had  desired  to  see.  If  we  felt 
that  we  really  met  Cardinal  Wolsey  or  Henry  VIII.  in 
his  days  of  glory,  would  it  not  be  a  lifelong  memory 
to  us,  very  different  from  the  effect  of  the  stage,  and  if 
for  a  few  moments  we  really  fett  that  we  had  met  them, 
would  it  not  lift  us  into  a  new  kind  of  being? 

"  What  would  we  not  give  to  see  Julius  Caesar  and  the 
soothsayer,  just  as  they  stood  in  Rome  as  Shakspere 
represents  them?  Why,  we  travel  hundreds  of  miles 
to  see  the  places  noted  for  the  doings  of  these  old 
Romans;  and  if  we  could  be  made  to  believe  that  we 
met  one  of  the  smaller  men,  even,  of  that  day,  our 
ecstasy  would  be  unbounded.  '  A  tin  pan  so  painted 
as  to  deceive  is  atrocious,'  says  this  writer.  Of  course, 
for  we  are  not  interested  in  a  tin  pan ;  but  give  us  a 
portrait  of  Shakspere  or  Milton  so  that  we  shall  feel 


44  MARIA    MITCHELL 

that  we  have  met  them,  and  I  see  no  atrocity  in  the 
matter.  We  honor  the  homes  of  these  men,  and  we  joy 
in  the  hope  of  seeing  them.  What  would  be  beyond 
seeing  them  in  life? 

"  October  31.  I  saw  Rachel  in  '  Phedre  '  and  in 
'  Adrienne.'  I  had  previously  asked  a  friend  if  I,  in  my 
ignorance  of  acting,  and  in  my  inability  to  tell  good 
from  poor,  should  really  perceive  a  marked  difference 
between  Rachel  and  her  aids.  She  thought  I  should. 
I  did  indeed  !  In  '  Phedre/  which  I  first  saw,  she  was 
not  aided  at  all  by  her  troupe ;  they  were  evidently  ill 
at  ease  in  the  Greek  dress  and  in  Greek  manners ; 
while  she  had  assimilated  herself  to  the  whole.  It  is 
founded  on  the  play  of  Euripides,  and  even  to  Rachel 
the  passion  which  she  represents  as  Phedre  must  have 
been  too  strange  to  be  natural.  Hippolytus  refuses 
the  love  which  Phedre  offers  after  a  long  struggle  with 
herself,  and  this  gives  cause  for  the  violent  bursts  in 
which  Rachel  shows  her  power.  It  was  an  outburst  of 
passion  of  which  I  have  no  conception,  and  I  felt  as  if 
I  saw  a  new  order  of  being ;  not  a  woman,  but  a  per- 
sonified passion.  The  vehemence  and  strength  were 
wonderful.  It  was  in  parts  very  touching.  There 
was  as  fine  an  opportunity  for  Aricia  to  show  some 
power  as  for  Phedre,  but  the  automaton  who  repre- 
sented Aricia  had  no  power  to  show.  CEnon,  whom 
I  took  to  be  the  sister  Sarah,  was  something  of  an 
actress,  but  her  part  was  so  hateful  that  no  one  could 
applaud  her.  I  felt  in  reading  '  Phedre,'  and  in  hear- 
ing it,  that  it  was  a  play  of  high  order,  and  that  I 
learned  some  little  philosophy  from  some  of  its  senti- 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  45 

ments ;  but  for  '  Adrienne  '  I  have  a  contempt.  The 
play  was  written  by  Scribe  specially  for  Rachel,  and 
the  French  acting  was  better  done  by  the  other  per- 
formers than  the  Greek.  I  have  always  disliked  to  see 
death  represented  on  the  stage.  Rachel's  representa- 
tion was  awful !  I  could  not  take  my  eyes  from  the 
scene,  and  I  held  my  breath  in  horror ;  the  death  was 
so  much  to  the  life.  It  is  said  that  she  changes  color. 
I  do  not  know  that  she  does,  but  it  looked  like  a 
ghastly  hue  that  came  over  her  pale  face. 

"  I  was  displeased  at  the  constant  standing.  Neither 
as  Greeks  nor  as  Frenchmen  did  they  sit  at  all ;  only 
when  dying  did  Rachel  need  a  chair.  They  made  love 
standing,  they  told  long  stories  standing,  they  took 
snuff  in  that  position,  hat  in  hand,  and  Rachel  fainted 
upon  the  breast  of  some  friend  from  the  same  fatiguing 
attitude. 

"  The  audience  to  hear  *  Adrienne  '  was  very  fine. 
The  Unitarian  clergymen  and  the  divinity  students 
seemed  to  have  turned  out. 

"  Most  of  the  two  thousand  listeners  followed  with  the 
book,  and  when  the  last  word  was  uttered  on  the  French 
page,  over  turned  the  two  thousand  leaves,  sounding 
like  a  shower  of  rain.  The  applause  was  never  very 
great;  it  is  said  that  Rachel  feels  this  as  a  Boston 
peculiarity,  but  she  ought  also  to  feel  the  compliment 
of  so  large  an  audience  in  a  city  where  foreigners  are  so 
few  and  the  population  so  small  compared  to  that  of 
New  York. 

"Nov.  14,  1855.  Last  night  I  heard  Emerson  give  a 
lecture.  I  pity  the  reporter  who  attempts  to  give  it  to 


46  MARIA   MITCHELL 

the  world.  I  began  to  listen  with  a  determination  to 
remember  it  in  order,  but  it  was  without  method,  or 
order,  or  system.  It  was  like  a  beam  of  light  moving  in 
the  undulatory  waves,  meeting  with  occasional  meteors 
in  its  path ;  it  was  exceedingly  captivating.  It  sur- 
prised me  that  there  was  not  only  no  commonplace 
thought,  but  there  was  no  commonplace  expression. 
If  he  quoted,  he  quoted  from  what  we  had  not  read; 
if  he  told  an  anecdote,  it  was  one  that  had  not 
reached  us.  At  the  outset  he  was  very  severe  upon  the 
science  of  the  age.  He  said  that  inventors  and  dis- 
coverers helped  themselves  very  much,  but  they  did  not 
help  the  rest  of  the  world ;  that  a  great  man  was  felt  to 
the  centre  of  the  Copernican  system ;  that  a  botanist 
dried  his  plants,  but  the  plants  had  their  revenge  and 
dried  the  botanist;  that  a  naturalist  bottled  up  reptiles, 
but  in  return  the  man  was  bottled  up. 

"  There  was  a  pitiful  truth  in  all  this,  but  there  are 
glorious  exceptions.  Professor  Peirce  is  anything  but 
a  formula,  though  he  deals  in  formulae. 

"  The  lecture  turned  at  length  upon  beauty,  and  it  was 
evident  that  personal  beauty  had  made  Emerson  its 
slave  many  a  time,  and  I  suppose  every  heart  in  the 
house  admitted  the  truth  of  his  words.  . 

"  It  was  evident  that  Mr.  Emerson  was  not  at  ease,  for 
he  declared  that  good  manners  were  more  than  beauty 
of  face,  and  good  expression  better  than  good  features. 
He  mentioned  that  Sir  Philip  Sydney  was  not  handsome, 
though  the  boast  of  English  society ;  and  he  spoke  of 
the  astonishing  beauty  of  the  Duchess  of  Hamilton,  to 
see  whom  hundreds  collected  when  she  took  a  ride.  I 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  47 

think  in  these  cases  there  is  something  besides  beauty; 
there  was  rank  in  that  of  the  Duchess,  in  the  case  of 
Sydney  there  was  no  need  of  beauty  at  all. 

"  Dec.  1 6,  1855.  All  along  this  year  I  have  felt  that  it 
was  a  hard  year — the  hardest  of  my  life.  And  I  have 
kept  enumerating  to  myself  my  many  trials ;  to-day  it 
suddenly  occurred  to  me  that  my  blessings  were  much 
more  numerous.  If  mother's  illness  was  a  sore  afflic- 
tion, her  recovery  is  a  great  blessing;  and  even  the 
illness  itself  has  its  bright  side,  for  we  have  joyed  in 
showing  her  how  much  we  prize  her  continued  life.  If  I 
have  lost  some  friends  by  death,  I  have  not  lost  all.  If 
I  have  worked  harder  than  I  felt  that  I  could  bear,  how 
much  better  is  that  than  not  to  have  as  much  work  as  I 
wanted  to  do.  I  have  earned  more  money  than  in  any 
preceding  year;  I  have  studied  less,  but  have  observed 
more,  than  I  did  last  year.  I  have  saved  more  money 
than  ever  before,  hoping  for  Europe  in  1856."  .  .  . 

Miss  Mitchell  from  her  earliest  childhood  had  had  a 
great  desire  to  travel  in  Europe.  She  received  a  very 
small  salary  for  her  services  in  the  Atheneum,  but  small 
as  it  was  she  laid  by  a  little  every  year. 

She  dressed  very  simply  and  spent  as  little  as  possi- 
ble on  herself — which  was  also  true  of  her  later  years. 
She  took  a  little  journey  every  year,  and  could  always 
have  little  presents  ready  for  the  birthdays  and  Christ- 
mas days,  and  for  the  necessary  books  which  could  not 
be  found  in  the  Atheneum  library,  and  which  she  felt 
that  she  ought  to  own  herself,  —  all  this  on  a  salary 
which  an  ordinary  school-girl  in  these  days  would 
think  too  meagre  to  supply  her  with  dress  alone. 


48  MARIA    MITCHELL 

In  this  family  the  children  were  not  ashamed  to  say, 
"  I  can't  afford  it,"  and  were  taught  that  nothing  was 
cheap  that  they  could  not  pay  for  —  a  lesson  that  has 
been  valuable  to  them  all  their  lives. 

"...  1855.  Deacon  Greeley,  of  Boston,  urged  my 
going  to  Boston  and  giving  some  lectures  to  get  money. 
I  told  him  I  could  not  think  of  it  just  now,  as  I  wanted 
to  go  to  Europe.  '  On  what  money?  '  said  he.  '  What 
I  have  earned/  I  replied.  'Bless  me!'  said  he;  'am 
I  talking  to  a  capitalist?  What  a  mistake  I  have 
made/  " 

During  the  time  of  the  prosperity  of  the  town,  the 
winters  were  very  sociable  and  lively;  but  when  the 
inhabitants  began  to  leave  for  more  favorable  oppor- 
tunities for  getting  a  livelihood,  the  change  was  felt 
very  seriously,  especially  in  the  case  of  an  exceptionally 
stormy  winter.  Here  is  an  extract  showing  how  Miss 
Mitchell  and  her  family  lived  during  one  of  these 
winters : 

"Jan.  22,  1857.  Hard  winters  are  becoming  the 
order  of  things.  Winter  before  last  was  hard,  last 
winter  was  harder,  and  this  surpasses  all  winters  known 
before. 

"  We  have  been  frozen  into  our  island  now  since  the 
6th.  No  one  cared  much  about  it  for  the  first  two  or 
three  days ;  the  sleighing  was  good,  and  all  the  world 
was  out  trying  their  horses  on  Main  street  — the  race- 
course of  the  world.  Day  after  day  passed,  and  the 
thermometer  sank  to  a  lower  point,  and  the  winds 
rose  to  a  higher,  and  sleighing  became  uncomfortable ; 
and  even  the  dullest  man  longs  for  the  cheer  of  a 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  49 

newspaper.  The  '  Nantucket  Inquirer '  came  out  for 
awhile,  but  at  length  it  had  nothing  to  tell  and  noth- 
ing to  inquire  about,  and  so  kept  its  peace. 

"  After  about  a  week  a  vessel  was  seen  off  Siasconset, 
and  boarded  by  a  pilot.  Her  captain  said  he  would  go 
anywhere  and  take  anybody,  as  all  he  wanted  was  a 
harbor.  Two  men  whose  business  would  suffer  if  they 
remained  at  home  took  passage  in  her,  and  with  the 
pilot,  Patterson,  she  left  in  good  weather  and  was  seen 
off  Chatham  at  night.  It  was  hoped  that  Patterson 
would  return  and  bring  at  least  a  few  newspapers,  but 
no  more  is  known*  of  them.  Our  postmaster  thought 
he  was  not  allowed  to  send  the  mails  by  such  a  con- 
veyance. 

"  Yesterday  we  got  up  quite  an  excitement  because 
a  large  steamship  was  seen  near  the  Haul-over.  She 
set  a  flag  for  a  pilot,  and  was  boarded.  It  was  found 
that  she  was  out  of  course,  twenty  days  from  Glasgow, 
bound  to  New  York.  "  What  the  European  news  is 
we  do  not  yet  know,  but  it  is  plain  that  we  are  nearer 
to  Europe  than  to  Hyannis.  Christians  as  we  are,  I  am 
afraid  we  were  all  sorry  that  she  did  not  come  ashore. 
We  women  revelled  in  the  idea  of  the  rich  silks  she 
would  probably  throw  upon  the  beach,  and  the  men 
thought  a  good  job  would  be  made  by  steamboat  com- 
panies and  wreck  agents. 

"  Last  night  the  weather  was  so  mild  that  a  plan  was 
made  for  cutting  out  the  steamboat ;  all  the  Irishmen  in 
town  were  ordered  to  be  on  the  harbor  with  axes, 
shovels,  and  saws  at  seven  this  morning.  The  poor 
fellows  were  exulting  in  the  prospect  of  a  job,  but  they 


50  MARIA    MITCHELL 

are  sadly  balked,  for  this  morning  at  seven  a  hard 
storm  was  raging — snow  and  a  good  north-west  wind. 
What  has  become  of  the  English  steamer  no  one  knows, 
but  the  wind  blows  off  shore,  so  she  will  not  come  any 
nearer  to  us. 

"  Inside  of  the  house  we  amuse  ourselves  in  various 
ways.  F.'s  family  and  ours  form  a  club  meeting  three 
times  a  week,  and  writing  '  machine  poetry '  in  great 
quantities.  Occasionally  something  very  droll  puts  us 
in  a  roar  of  laughter.  F.,  E.,  and  K.  are,  I  think, 
rather  the  smartest,  though  Mr.  M.  has  written  rather 
the  best  of  all.  At  the  next  meeting,  each  of  us  is  to 
produce  a  sonnet  on  a  subject  which  we  draw  by  lot. 
I  have  written  mine  and  tried  to  be  droll.  K.  has  writ- 
ten hers  and  is  serious. 

"  I  am  sadly  tried  by  this  state  of  things.  I  cannot 
hear  from  Cambridge  (the  Nautical  Almanac  office), 
and  am  out  of  work;  it  is  cloudy  most  of  the  time,  and 
I  cannot  observe;  and  I  had  fixed  upon  just  this  time 
for  taking  a  journey.  My  trunk  has  been  half  packed 
for  a  month. 

"  January  23.  Foreseeing  that  the  thermometer  would 
show  a  very  low  point  last  night,  we  sat  up  until  near 
midnight,  when  it  stood  one  and  one-half  below  zero. 
The  stars  shone  brightly,  and  the  wind  blew  freshly 
from  west  north-west. 

"  This  morning  the  wind  is  the  same,  and  the  mer- 
cury stood  at  six  and  one-half  below  zero  at  seven 
o'clock,  and  now  at  ten  A.M.  is  not  above  zero.  The 
Coffin  School  dismissed  its  scholars.  Miss  F.  suffered 
much  from  the  exposure  on  her  way  to  school. 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  51 

"  The  '  Inquirer'  came  out  this  morning,  giving  the 
news  from  Europe  brought  by  the  steamer  which  lies 
off  'Sconset.  No  coal  has  yet  been  carried  to  the 
steamer,  the  carts  which  started  for  'Sconset  being 
obliged  to  return. 

"  There  are  about  seven  hundred  barrels  of  flour  ir 
town ;  it  is  admitted  that  fresh  meat  is  getting  scarce ; 
the  streets  are  almost  impassable  from  the  snow-drifts. 

"  K.  and  I  have  hit  upon  a  plan  for  killing  time. 
We  are  learning  poetry  —  she  takes  twenty  lines  of 
Goldsmith's  '  Traveller,'  and  I  twenty  lines  of  the 
*  Deserted  Village.'  It  will  take  us  twenty  days  to 
learn  the  whole,  and  we  hope  to  be  stopped  in  our 
course  by  the  opening  of  the  harbor.  Considering  that 
K.  has  a  fiance  from  whom  she  cannot  hear  a  word,  she 
carries  herself  very  amicably  towards  mankind.  She  is 
making  herself  a  pair  of  shoes,  which  look  very  well ; 
I  have  made  myself  a  morning-dress  since  we  were 
closed  in. 

"  Last  night  I  took  my  first  lesson  in  whist-playing. 
I  learned  in  one  evening  to  know  the  king,  queen,  and 
jack  apart,  and  to  understand  what  my  partner  meant 
when  she  winked  at  me. 

"  The  worst  of  this  condition  of  things  is  that  we 
shall  bear  the  marks  of  it  all  our  lives.  We  are  now 
sixteen  daily  papers  behind  the  rest  of  the  world,  and 
in  those  sixteen  papers  are  items  known  to  all  the 
people  in  all  the  cities,  which  will  never  be  known  to 
us.  How  prices  have  fluctuated  in  that  time  we  shall 
not  know  —  what  houses  have  burned  down,  what  rob- 
beries have  been  committed.  When  the  papers  do 


52  MARIA    MITCHELL 

come,  each  of  us  will  rush  for  the  latest  dates ;  the  news 
of  two  weeks  ago  is  now  history,  and  no  one  reads  his- 
tory, especially  the  history  of  one's  own  country. 

"I  bought  a  copy  of  'Aurora  Leigh'  just  before 
the  freezing  up,  and  1  have  been  careful,  as  it  is  the 
only  copy  on  the  island,  to  circulate  it  freely.  It  must 
have  been  a  pleasant  visitor  in  the  four  or  five  house- 
holds which  it  has  entered.  We  have  had  Dr.  Kane's 
book  and  now  have  the  '  Japan  Expedition/ 

"  The  intellectual  suffering  will,  I  think,  be  all.  I 
have  no  fear  of  scarcity  of  provisions  or  fuel.  There 
are  old  houses  enough  to  burn.  Fresh  meat  is  rather 
scarce  because  the  English  steamer  required  so  much 
victualling.  We  have  a  barrel  of  pork  and  a  barrel  of 
flour  in  the  house,  and  father  has  chickens  enough  to 
keep  us  a  good  while. 

"  There  are  said  to  be  some  families  who  are  in  a 
good  deal  of  suffering,  for  whom  the  Howard  Society  is 
on  the  lookout.  Mother  gives  very  freely  to  Bridget, 
who  has  four  children  to  support  with  only  the  labor  of 
her  hands. 

"The  Coffin  School  has  been  suspended  one  day  on 
account  of  the  heaviest  storm,  and  the  Unitarian  church 
has  had  but  one  service.  No  great  damage  has  been 
done  by  the  gales.  My  observing-seat  came  thunder- 
ing down  the  roof  one  evening  about  ten  o'clock,  but 
all  the  world  understood  its  cry  of  '  Stand  from 
under/  and  no  one  was  hurt.  Several  windows  were 
blown  in  at  midnight,  and  houses  shook  so  that  vases 
fell  from  the  mantelpieces. 

"  The  last  snow  drifted   so    that   the    sleighing  was 


EXTRACTS   FROM   HER    DIARY  53 

difficult,  and  at  present  the  storm  is  so  smothering  that 
few  are  out.  A.  has  been  out  to  school  every  day,  and 
I  have  not  failed  to  go  out  into  the  air  once  a  day  to 
take  a  short  walk. 

"  January  24.  We  left  the  mercury  one  below  zero 
when  we  went  to  bed  last  night,  and  it  was  at  zero  when 
we  rose  this  morning.  But  it  rises  rapidly,  and  now,  at 
eleven  A.M.,  it  is  as  high  as  fifteen.  The  weather  is  still 
and  beautiful ;  the  English  steamer  is  still  safe  at  her 
moorings. 

"  Our  little  club  met  last  night,  each  with  a  sonnet. 
I  did  the  best  I  could  with  a  very  bad  subject.  K.  and 
E.  rather  carried  the  honors  away,  but  Mr.  J.  M.'s  was 
very  taking.  Our  *  crambo  '  playing  was  rather  dull, 
all  of  us  having  exhausted  ourselves  on  the  sonnets. 
We  seem  to  have  settled  ourselves  quietly  into  a  tone 
of  resignation  in  regard  to  the  weather ;  we  know  that 
we  cannot  '  get  out/  any  more  than  Sterne's  Starling, 
and  we  know  that  it  is  best  not  to  fret. 

"  The  subject  which  I  have  drawn  for  the  next  poem 
is  l  Sunrise,'  about  which  I  know  very  little.  K.  and  I 
continue  to  learn  twenty  lines  of  poetry  a  day,  and  I  do 
not  find  it  unpleasant,  though  the  '  Deserted  Village ' 
is  rather  monotonous. 

"  We  hear  of  no  suffering  in  town  for  fuel  or  provis- 
ions, and  I  think  we  could  stand  a  three  months'  siege 
without  much  inconvenience  as  far  as  the  physicals  are 
concerned. 

"January  26.  The  ice  continues,  and  the  cold.  The 
weather  is  beautiful,  and  with  the  thermometer  at  four- 
teen I  swept  with  the  telescope  an  hour  and  a  half  last 


54  MARIA    MITCHELL 

night,  comfortably.  The  English  steamer  will  get  off 
to-morrow.  It  is  said  that  they  burned  their  cabin 
doors  last  night  to  keep  their  water  hot.  Many  people 
go  out  to  see  her;  she  lies  off  'Sconset,  about,  half  a 
mile  from  shore.  We  have  sent  letters  by  her  which, 
I  hope,  may  relieve  anxiety. 

"  K.  bought  a  backgammon  board  to-day.  Clifford 
[the  little  nephew]  came  in  and  spent  the  morning. 

"  January  29.  We  have  had  now  two  days  of  warm 
weather,  but  there  is  yet  no  hope  of  getting  our  steam- 
boat off.  Day  before  yesterday  we  went  to  'Sconset  to 
see  the  English  steamer.  She  lay  so  near  the  shore 
that  we  could  hear  the  orders  given,  and  see  the  people 
on  board.  When  we  went  down  the  bank  the  boats 
were  just  pushing  from  the  shore,  with  bags  of  coal. 
They  could  not  go  directly  to  the  ship,  but  rowed  some 
distance  along  shore  to  the  north,  and  then  falling  into 
the  ice  drifted  with  it  back  to  the  ship.  When  they 
reached  her  a  rope  was  thrown  to  them,  and  they  made 
fast  and  the  coal  was  raised.  We  watched  them 
through  a  glass,  and  saw  a  woman  leaning  over  the 
side  of  the  ship.  The  steamer  left  at  five  o'clock  that 
day. 

"  It  was  worth  the  trouble  of  a  ride  to  'Sconset  to  see 
the  masses  of  snow  on  the  road.  The  road  had  been 
cleared  for  the  coal-carts,  and  we  drove  through  a  nar- 
row path,  cut  in  deep  snow-banks  far  above  our  heads, 
sometimes  for  the  length  of  three  or  four  sleighs.  We 
could  not,  of  course,  turn  out  for  other  sleighs,  and 
there  was  much  waiting  on  this  account.  Then,  too, 
the  road  was  much  gullied,  and  we  rocked  in  the  sleigh 


EXTRACTS    FROM   HER    DIARY  55 

as  we  would  on  shipboard,  with  the  bounding  over 
hillocks  of  snow  and  ice. 

"  Now,  all  is  changed :  the  roads  are  slushy,  and  the 
water  stands  in  deep  pools  all  over  the  streets.  There 
is  a  dense  fog,  very  little  wind,  and  that  from  the  east. 
The  thermometer  above  thirty-six. 

"  [Mails  arrived  February  3,  and  our  steamboat  left 
February  5.]  " 


56  MARIA    MITCHELL 


CHAPTER   IV 

1857 
SOUTHERN   TOUR 

IN  1857  Miss  Mitchell  made  a  tour  in  the  South, 
having  under  her  charge  the  young  daughter  of  a 
Western  banker. 

"March  2,  1857.  I  left  Meadville  this  morning  at  six 
o'clock,  in  a  stage-coach  for  Erie.  I  had,  early  in  life, 
a  love  for  staging,  but  it  is  fast  dying  out.  Nine  hours 
over  a  rough  road  are  enough  to  root  out  the  most 
passionate  love  of  that  kind. 

"Our  stage  was  well  filled,  but  in  spite  of  the  solid 
base  we  occasionally  found  ourselves  bumping  up 
against  the  roof  or  falling  forward  upon  our  opposite 
neighbors. 

"Stage-coaches  are,  I  believe,  always  the  arena  for 
political  debate.  To-day  we  were  all  on  one  side,  all 
Buchanan  men,  and  yet  all  anti-slavery.  It  seemed 
reasonable,  as  they  said,  that  the  South  should  cease  to 
push  the  slave  question  in  regard  to  Kansas,  now  that  it 
has  elected  its  President. 

"  When  I  took  the  stage  out  to  Meadville  on  the 
'  mud-road,'  it  was  filled  with  Fremont  men,  and  they 
seemed  to  me  more  able  men,  though  they  were  no 
younger  and  no  more  cultivated. 

"  March  5.      I    believe    any   one   might   travel  from 


SOUTHERN    TOUR  57 

Maine  to  Georgia  and  be  perfectly  ignorant  of  the 
route,  and  yet  be  well  taken  care  of,  mainly  from  the 
good-nature  in  every  one. 

"  I  found  from  Nantucket  to  Chicago  more  attention 
than  I  desired.  I  had  a  short  seat  in  one  of  the  cars, 
through  the  night.  I  did  not  think  it  large  enough  for 
two,  and  so  coiled  myself  up  and  went  to  sleep.  There 
were  men  standing  all  around.  Once  one  of  them  came 
along  and  said  something  about  there  being  room  for 
him  on  my  seat.  Another  man  said,  *  She's  asleep, 
don't  disturb  her.'  I  was  too  selfish  to  offer  the  half 
of  a  short  seat,  and  too  tired  to  reason  about  the  man's 
being,  possibly,  more  tired  than  I. 

"  I  was  invariably  offered  the  seat  near  the  window  that 
I  might  lean  against  the  side  of  the  car,  and  one  gentle- 
man threw  his  shawl  across  my  knees  to  keep  me  warm 
(I  was  suffering  with  heat  at  the  time  !).  Another,  see- 
ing me  going  to  Chicago  alone,  warned  me  to  beware 
of  the  impositions  of  hack-drivers;  telling  me  that  I 
must  pay  two  dollars  if  I  did  not  make  a  bargain  be- 
forehand. I  found  it  true,  for  I  paid  one  dollar  for 
going  a  few  steps  only. 

"  One  peculiarity  in  travelling  from  East  to  West  is,  that 
you  lose  the  old  men.  In  the  cars  in  New  England  you 
see  white-headed  men,  and  I  kept  one  in  the  train  up  to 
New  York,,and  one  of  grayish-tinted  hair  as  far  as  Erie  ; 
but  after  Cleveland,  no  man  was  over  forty  years  old. 

"  For  hundreds  of  miles  the  prairie  land  stretches 
on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  between  Chicago  and 
St.  Louis.  It  may  be  pleasant  in  summer,  but  it  is  a 
dreary  waste  in  winter.  The  space  is  too  broad  and 


58  MARIA    MITCHELL 

too  uniform  to  have  beauty.  The  girdle  of  trees  would 
be  pretty,  doubtless,  if  seen  near,  but  in  the  distance 
and  in  winter  it  is  only  a  black  border  to  a  brown  plain. 

"The  State  of  Illinois  must  be  capitally  adapted  to 
railroads  on  account  of  this  level,  and  but  little  danger 
can  threaten  a  train  from  running  off  of  the  track,  as  it 
might  run  on  the  soil  nearly  as  well  as  on  the  rails. 

"  Our  engine  was  uncoupled,  and  had  gone  on  for 
nearly  half  a  mile  without  the  cars  before  the  conductor 
perceived  it. 

"  The  time  from  Chicago  to  St.  Louis  is  called  fifteen 
hours  and  a  quarter ;  we  made  it  twenty-three. 

"  If  the  prairie  land  is  good  farming-land,  Illinois  is 
destined  to  be  a  great  State.  If  its  people  will  think 
less  of  the  dollar  and  more  of  the  refinements  of  social 
life  and  the  culture  of  the  mind,  it  may  become  the 
great  State  of  the  Union  yet. 

"March  12.  Planter's  Hotel,  St.  Louis.  We  visited 
Mercantile  Hall  and  the  Library.  The  lecture-room  is 
very  spacious  and  very  pretty.  No  gallery  hides  the 
frescoed  walls,  and  no  painful  economy  has  been  made 
of  the  space  on  the  floor. 

"  1 3th.  I  begin  to  perceive  the  commerce  of  St. 
Louis.  We  went  upon  the  levee  this  morning,  and  for 
miles  the  edge  was  bordered  with  the  pipes  of  steam- 
boats, standing  like  a  picket-fence.  Then  we  came  to 
the  wholesale  streets,  and  saw  the  immense  stores  for 
dry-goods  and  crockery. 

"  To-day  I  have  heard  of  a  scientific  association 
called  the  (  Scientific  Academy  of  St.  Louis/  which  is 
about  a  year  old,  and  which  is  about  to  publish  a  volume 


SOUTHERN   TOUR  59 

of  transactions,  containing  an  account  of  an  artesian  well, 
and  of  some  inscriptions  just  sent  home  from  Nineveh, 
which  Mr.  Gust.  Seyffarth  has  deciphered. 

"  Mr.  Seyffarth  must  be  a  remarkable  man ;  he  has 
translated  a  great  many  inscriptions,  and  is  said  to 
surpass  Champollion.  He  has  published  a  work  on 
Egyptian  astronomy,  but  no  copy  is  in  this  country. 

"  Dr.  Pope,  who  called  on  me,  and  with  whom  I  was 
much  pleased,  told  me  of  all  these  things.  Western 
men  are  so  proud  of  their  cities  that  they  spare  no 
pains  to  make  a  person  from  the  Eastern  States  under- 
stand the  resources,  and  hopes,  and  plans  of  their  part 
of  the  land. 

"  Rev.  Dr.  Eliot  I  have  not  seen.  He  is  about  to  estab- 
lish a  university  here,  for  which  he  has  already  $100,000, 
and  the  academic  part  is  already  in  a  state  of  activity. 

"  Rev.  Mr.  Staples  tells  me  that  Dr.  Eliot  puts  his 
hands  into  the  pockets  of  his  parishioners,  who  are  rich, 
up  to  the  elbows. 

"  Altogether,  St.  Louis  is  a  growing  place,  and  the 
West  has  a  large  hand  and  a  strong  grasp. 

"  Doctor  Seyffarth  is  a  man  of  more  than  sixty  y^urs, 
gray-haired,  healthy-looking,  and  pleasant  in  mannjeiss. 
He  has  spent  long  years  of  labor  in  decipheringr  the 
inscriptions  found  upon  ancient  pillars,  Egpytian  and 
Arabic,  dating  five  thousand  years  before  Christ.  I 
asked  him  if  he  found  the  observations  continuous,  and 
he  said  that  he  did  not,  but  that  they  seem  to  be 
astrological  pictures  of  the  configuration  of  the  planets, 
and  to  have  been  made  at  the  birth  of  princes. 

"  He  has  just  been  reading  the  slabs  sent  from  Nine- 


60  MARIA    MITCHELL 

veh  by  Mr.  Marsh ;   their  date  is  only  about  five  hun- 
dred years  B.C. 

"  Mr.  Seyffarth's  published  works  amount  to  seventy, 
and  he  was  surprised  to  find  a  whole  set  of  them  in  the 
Astor  Library  in  New  York. 

"March  19.  We  came  on  board  of  the  steamer 
*  Magnolia,'  this  morning,  in  great  spirits.  We  were  a 
little  late,  and  Miss  S.  rushed  on  board  as  if  she  had 
only  New  Orleans  in  view.  I  followed  a  little  more 
slowly,  and  the  brigadier- general  came  after,  in  a  sober 
and  dignified  manner. 

"We  were  scarcely  on  board  when  the  plank  was 
pulled  in,  and  a  few  minutes  passed  and  we  were  afloat 
on  the  Mississippi  river.  Miss  S.  and  myself  were  the 
only  lady  passengers;  we  had,  therefore,  the  whole 
range  of  staterooms  from  which  to  choose.  Each 
could  have  a  stateroom  to  herself,  and  we  talked  in 
admiration  of  the  pleasant  times  we  should  have,  watch- 
ing the  scenery  from  the  stateroom  windows,  or  from 
the  saloon,  reading,  etc. 

"  We  started  off  finely.  I,  who  had  been  used  only 
to  the  rough  waters  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  was  surprised 
at  the  steady  gliding  of  the  boat.  I  saw  nothing  of  the 
mingling  of  the  waters  of  the  Missouri  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi of  which  I  had  been  told.  Perhaps  I  needed 
somebody  to  point  out  the  difference. 

"  The  two  banks  of  the  river  were  at  first  much  alike, 
but  after  a  few  hours  the  left  bank  became  more  hilly, 
and  at  intervals  presented  bluffs  and  rocks,  rude  and 
irregular  in  shape,  which  we  imagined  to  be  ruins  of 
some  old  castle. 


SOUTHERN   TOUR  6 1 

"  At  intervals,  too,  we  passed  steamers  going  up  to 
St.  Louis,  all  laden  with  passengers.  We  exulted  in  our 
majestic  march  over  the  waters.  I  thought  it  the  very 
perfection  of  travelling,  and  wished  that  all  my  family 
and  all  my  friends  were  on  board. 

"  I  wondered  at  the  stupidity  of  the  rest  of  the  world, 
and  thought  that  they  ought  all  to  leave  the  marts  of 
business,  to  step  from  the  desk,  the  counting-room,  and 
the  workshop  on  board  the  '  Magnolia/  and  go  down 
the  length  of  the  '  Father  of  Waters.' 

"  And  so  they  would,  I  suppose,  but  for  sand-bars. 
Here  we  are  five  hours  out,  and  fast  aground  !  We 
were  just  at  dinner,  the  captain  making  himself  agree- 
able, the  dinner  showing  itself  to  be  good,  when  a 
peculiar  motion  of  the  boat  made  the  captain  heave 
a  sigh  —  he  had  been  heaving  the  lead  all  the 
morning.  '  Ah,'  he  said,  'just  what  I  feared;  we've 
got  to  one  of  those  bad  places,  and  we  are  rubbing  the 
bottom/ 

"  I  asked  very  innocently  if  we  must  wait  for  the  tide, 
and  was  informed  that  there  was  no  tide  felt  on  this 
part  of  the  river.  Miss  S.  turned  a  little  pale,  and 
showed  a  loss  of  appetite.  I  was  a  little  bit  moved, 
but  kept  it  to  myself  and  ate  on. 

"  As  soon  as  dinner  was  over,  we  went  out  to  look  at 
the  prospect  of  affairs.  We  were  close  into  the  land, 
and  could  be  put  on  shore  any  minute;  the  captain 
had  sent  round  a  little  boat  to  sound  the  waters,  and 
the  report  brought  back  was  of  shallow  water  just 
ahead  of  us,  but  more  on  the  right  and  left. 

"While  we  stood  on  deck  a  small  boat  passed,  and  a 


62  MARIA    MITCHELL 

sailor  very  gleefully  called  out  the  soundings  as  he 
threw  the  lead,  '  Eight  and  a  half-nine.' 

"  But  we  are  still  high  and  dry  now  at  two  o'clock 
P.M.  They  are  shaking  the  steamer,  and  making  efforts 
to  move  her.  They  say  if  she  gets  over  this,  there  is 
no  worse  place  for  her  to  meet. 

"  I  asked  the  captain  of  what  the  bottom  is  com- 
posed, and  he  says,  '  Of  mud,  rocks,  snags,  and  every- 
thing.' 

"  He  is  now  moving  very  cautiously,  and  the  boat  has 
an  unpleasant  tremulous  motion. 

*'  March  20.  Latitude  about  thirty-eight  degrees. 
We  are  just  where  we  stopped  at  noon  yesterday  — 
there  is  no  change,  and  of  course  no  event.  One  of 
our  crew  killed  a  'possum  yesterday,  and  another  boat 
stopped  near  us  this  morning,  and  seems  likely  to  lie  as 
long  as  we  do  on  the  sand-bar. 

"We  read  Shakspere  this  morning  after  breakfast, 
and  then  betook  ourselves  to  the  wheel-house  to  look 
at  the  scenery  again.  While  there  a  little  colored  boy 
came  to  us  bearing  a  waiter  of  oranges,  and  telling  us 
that  the  captain  sent  them  with  his  compliments.  We 
ate  them  greedily,  because  we  had  nothing  else  to  do. 

"21st.  Still  the  sand-bar.  No  hope  of  getting  off. 
We  heard  the  pilot  hail  a  steamboat  which  was  going 
up  to  St.  Louis,  and  tell  them  to  send  on  a  lighter, 
and  I  suppose  we  must  wait  for  that.  .  .  .  It  is  my 
private  opinion  that  this  great  boat  will  not  get  off  at 
all,  but  will  lie  here  until  she  petrifies.  .  .  . 

"  March  24.  We  left  the  '  Magnolia  '  after  four  days 
and  four  hours  upon  the  sand-bar  near  Turkey  island, 


SOUTHERN    TOUR  63 

upon  seeing  the  'Woodruff'  approach.  We  left  in  a 
little  rowboat,  and  it  seemed  at  first  as  if  we  could  not 
overtake  the  steamer ;  but  the  captain  saw  us  and  slack- 
ened his  speed. 

"  Miss  S.  and  I  clutched  hands  in  a  little  terror  as  our 
small  boat  seemed  likely  to  run  under  the  great  steamer, 
but  our  oarsmen  knew  their  duty  and  we  were  safely 
put  on  board  of  the  '  Woodruff.' 

"  March  25.  We  stopped  at  Cairo  at  eight  o'clock 
this  morning.  Mr.  S.  went  on  shore  and  brought  news- 
papers on  board.  The  Cairo  paper  I  do  not  think  of 
high  order.  I  saw  no  mention  in  it  of  the  detention  of 
the  'Magnolia'! 

"  March  26.  Yesterday  we  count  as  a  day  of  events. 
It  began  to  look  sunny  on  the  banks,  especially  on 
the  Kentucky  side,  and  Miss  S.  and  I  saw  cherry-blos- 
soms. We  remembered  the  eclipse,  and  Mr.  S.  having 
brought  with  him  a  piece  of  broken  glass  from  one  of 
the  windows  of  the  '  Magnolia,'  I  smoked  it  over  a 
piece  of  candle  which  I  had  brought  from  Room  No.  22 
of  the  Planter's  House  at  St.  Louis,  and  we  prepared  to 
see  the  eclipse. 

"I  expected  to  see  the  moon  on  at  five  o'clock  and 
twenty  minutes,  but  as  I  had  no  time  I  could  not  tell 
when  to  look  for  it. 

"  It  was  not  on  at  that  time  by  my  watch,  but  in  ten 
minutes  after  was  so  far  on  that  I  think  my  time  cannot 
be  much  wrong. 

"  It  was  a  little  cloudy,  so  that  we  saw  the  sun  only 
'  all  flecked  with  bars/  and  caught  sight  of  the  phe- 
nomenon at  intervals. 


64  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"We  were  at  a  coal-landing  at  the  time,  and  not  far 
from  Madrid.  The  boat  stopped  so  long  to  take  in  an 
immense  pile  of  corn-bags  that  our  passengers  went  on 
shore  —  such  ^of  them  as  could  climb  the  slippery 
bank. 

"  When  we  saw  them  coming  back  laden  with  peach- 
blossoms,  and  saw  the  little  children  dressing  their  hats 
with  them,  we  were  seized  with  a  longing  for  them,  and 
Mr.  S.  offered  to  go  and  get  us  some;  we  begged  to  go 
too,  but  he  objected. 

"  We  were  really  envious  of  his  good  luck  when  we 
saw  him  jump  into  a  country  wagon,  drawn  by 
oxen  which  trotted  off  like  horses,  and,  waving  his 
handkerchief  to  us,  ride  off  in  great  glee.  He  came 
back  with  an  armful  of  peach-tree  branches.  Whose 
orchard  he  robbed  at  our  instigation  I  cannot  say.  A 
little  girl,  the  daughter  of  the  captain,  pulled  some 
blossoms  open,  and  showed  us  that  the  fruit  germs 
were  not  dead,  but  would  have  become  peaches  if  we 
had  not  coveted  them. 

"  The  25th  was  also  our  first  night  steam-boating. 
After  passing  Cairo  the  river  is  considered  safe  for 
night  travel,  and  the  boat  started  on  her  way  at  8.30 
P.M.  We  had  been  out  about  half  an  hour  when  a 
lady  who  was  playing  cards  threw  down  her  cards  and 
rushed  with  a  shriek  to  her  stateroom.  I  perceived 
then  that  there  had  been  a  peculiar  motion  to  the  boat 
and  that  it  suddenly  stopped.  We  found  that  one  of 
the  paddle-wheels  was  caught  in  a  snag,  but  there  was 
no  harm  done.  It  made  us  a  little  nervous,  but  we 
slept  well  enough  after  it. 


SOUTHERN   TOUR  65 

"When  I  look  out  upon  the  river,  I  wonder  that  boats 
are  not  continually  snagged.  Little  trees  are  sticking 
up  on  all  sides,  and  sometimes  we  seem  to  be  going 
over  a  meadow  and  pushing  among  rushes. 

"A  yawl,  which  was  sent  out  yesterday  to  sound,  was 
snagged  by  a  stump  which  was  high  out  of  water; 
probably  they  were  carried  on  to  it  by  a  .current.  The 
little  boat  whirled  round  and  round,  and  the  men  were 
plainly  frightened,  for  they  dropped  their  oars  and 
clutched  the  sides  of  the  boat.  They  got  control,  how- 
ever, in  a  few  minutes,  and  had  the  jeers  of  the  men 
left  on  the  steamer  for  their  pains. 

"  March  30.  We  stopped  at  Natchez  before  break- 
fast this  morning,  and,  having  half  an  hour,  we  took  a 
carriage  and  drove  through  the  city.  It  was  like  driv- 
ing through  a  succession  of  gardens :  roses  were  hang- 
ing over  the  fences  in  the  richest  profusion,  and  the 
arbor-vitae  was  ornamenting  every  little  nook,  and 
adorning  every  cottage. 

"  Natchez  stands  on  a  high  bluff,  very  romantic  in 
appearance;  jagged  and  rugged,  as  if  volcanoes  had 
been  at  work  in  a  time  long  past,  for  tall  trees  grew  in 
the  ravines. 

"  Most  of  our  lady  passengers  are,  like  ourselves,  on 
a  tour  of  pleasure ;  six  of  them  go  with  us  to  the  St. 
Charles  Hotel.  Some  are  from  Keokuk,  la.,  and  I 
think  I  like  these  the  best.  One  young  lady  goes 
ashore  to  spend  some  time  on  a  plantation,  as  a 
governess.  She  looks  feeble,  and  we  all  pity  her. 

"To-day  we  pass  among  plantations  on  both  sides  of 
the  river.,  We  begin  to  see  the  live-oak  —  a  noble  tree. 


66  MARIA    MITCHELL 

The  foliage  is  so  thick  and  dark  that  I  have  learned  to 
know  it  by  its  color.  The  magnolia  trees,  too,  are  be- 
coming fragrant. 

"  March  31.  We  are  at  length  in  New  Orleans,  and 
up  three  flights  at  the  St.  Charles,  in  a  dark  room. 

"The  peculiarities  of  the  city  dawn  upon  me  very 
slowly.  I  first  noticed  the  showy  dress  of  the  children, 
then  the  turbaned  heads  of  the  black  women  in  the 
streets,  and  next  the  bouquet-selling  boys  with  their 
French  phrases. 

"April  3.  This  morning  we  went  to  a  slave  market. 
It  looked  on  first  entrance  like  an  intelligence  office. 
Men,  women,  and  children  were  seated  on  long 
benches  parallel  with  each  other.  All  rose  at  our 
entrance,  and  continued  standing  while  we  were  there. 
We  were  told  by  the  traders  to  walk  up  and  down  the 
passage  between  them,  and  talk  with  them  as  we  liked. 
As  Mr.  S.  passed  the  men,  several  lifted  their  hands 
and  said,  *  Here's  the  boy  that  will  suit  you ;  I  can  do 
any  kind  of  work.'  Some  advertised  themselves  with 
a  good  deal  of  tact.  One  woman  pulled  at  my  shawl 
and  asked  me  to  buy  her.  I  told  her  that  I  was  not 
a  housekeeper.  '  Not  married  ?  '  she  asked.  — '  No.'  — 
1  Well,  then,  get  married  and  buy  me  and  my  husband.' 

"  There  was  a  girl  among  them  whiter  than  I,  who 
roused  my  sympathies  very  much.  I  could  not  speak 
to  her,  for  the  past  and  the  future  were  too  plainly  told 
in  her  face.  I  spoke  to  another,  a  bright-looking  girl 
of  twelve.  '  Where  were  you  raised?  '  —  'In  Kentucky.' 
— '  And  why  are  you  to  be  sold  ? '  —  '  The  trader  came 
to  Kentucky,  bought  me,  and  brought  me  here.'  I 


SOUTHERN   TOUR  67 

thought  what  right  had  I  to  be  homesick,  when  that 
poor  girl  had  left  all  her  kindred  for  life  without  her 
consent. 

"  I  could  hold  my  tongue  and  look  around  without 
much  outward  show  of  disgust,  but  to  talk  pleasantly 
to  the  trader  I  could  not  consent.  He  told  me  that  he 
had  been  brought  up  in  the  business,  but  he  thought  it 
a  pity. 

"  No  buyers  were  present,  so  there  was  no  examina- 
tion that  was  painful  to  look  upon. 

"The  slaves  were  intelligent-looking,  and  very 
healthy  and  neat  in  appearance.  Those  who  belonged 
to  one  owner  were  dressed  alike  —  some  in  striped  pink 
and  white  dresses,  others  in  plaid,  all  a  little  showy. 
The  men  were  in  thick  trousers  and  coarse  dark-blue 
jackets. 

"April  5.  We  have  been  this  morning  to  a  negro 
church.  We  found  it  a  miserable-looking  house, 
mostly  unpainted  and  unplastered,  but  well  filled  with 
the  swarthy  faces.  They  were  singing  when  we 
entered ;  we  were  pointed  to  a  good  seat. 

"  There  may  have  been  fifty  persons  present,  all  well 
dressed ;  the  women  in  the  fanciful  checkered  head- 
dresses so  much  favored  by  the  negro  race,  the  men 
in  clean  collars,  nankin  trousers,  and  dark  coats.  All 
showed  that  they  were  well  kept  and  well  fed. 

"  The  audience  was  increased  by  new-comers  fre- 
quently, and  these,  whatever  the  exercise  might  be, 
shook  hands  with  those  around  them  as  they  seated 
themselves,  and  joined  immediately  in  the  services.  The 
singing  was  by  the  whole  congregation,  the  minister 


68  MARIA    MITCHELL 

lining  out  the  hymns  as  in  the  early  times  in  New  Eng- 
land. 

"  Several  persons  carried  on  the  exercises  from  the 
pulpit,  and  in  the  prayers  and  sermon  the  audience 
took  an  active  part,  responding  in  groans,  '  Oh,  yes,'  or 
'  Amen/  sometimes  performing  a  kind  of  chant  to 
accompany  the  words.  ...  A  negro  minister  said 
in  his  prayer,  '  O  God,  we  are  not  for  much  talking.' 
I  was  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  a  short  discourse,  but 
I  found  his  '  not  much  talking '  exactly  corresponded 
to  '  a  good  deal '  in  my  use  of  words.  He  talked  for 
a  full  hour. 

"  There  was  something  pleasing  in  the  earnestness  of 
the  preacher  and  the  sympathetic  feeling  of  the  audi- 
ence, but  their  peculiar  condition  was  not  alluded  to, 
and  probably  was  not  felt. 

"  The  discourse  was  almost  ludicrous  at  times,  and 
at  times  was  pathetic.  I  saved  up  a  few  specimens: 

"  '  O  God,  you  have  said  that  where  one  or  two  are 
gathered  together  in  your  name,  there  will  you  be  ;  if  any- 
thing stands  between  us  that  you  can't  come,  put  it  aside.' 

"  '  God  wants  a  kingdom  upon  earth  with  which  he 
can  coin-cide,  and  that  kingdom  are  your  heart.' 

"  '  God  is  near  you  when  you  are  at  the  wash-tub  or 
the  ironing-table.' 

"  «  Brethren,  I  thought  last  Sabbath  I  wouldn't  live 
to  this ;  a  man  gets  such  a  notion  sometimes.' 

"  April  9,  Alabama  River.  Some  lessons  we  of  the 
North  might  learn  from  the  South,  and  one  is  a  greater 
regard  for  human  life.  I  asked  the  captain  of  our  boat 
if  they  had  any  accidents  in  these  waters.  He  said, 


SOUTHERN'    TOUR  69 

'  We  don't  kill  people  at  the  South,  we  gave  that  up 
some  years  ago ;  we  leave  it  to  the  North,  and  the 
Northfseems  to  be  capable  of  doing  it.' 

"  The  reason  for  this  is,  that  they  are  in  no  hurry. 
The  Southern  character  is  opposed  to  haste.  Safety 
is  of  more  worth  than  speed,  and  there  is  no  hurry. 

"  Every  one  at  the  South  introduces  its  '  peculiar 
institution  '  into  conversation. 

"  They  talk  as  I  expected  Southern  people  of  intel- 
ligence to  talk ;  they  lament  the  evil,  and  say,  '  It  is 
upon  us,  what  can  we  do?  To  give  them  freedom 
would  be  cruel.' 

"  Southerners  fall  back  upon  the  Bible  at  once ;  there 
is  more  of  the  old-fashioned  religion  at  the  South  than 
at  the  North ;  that  is,  they  are  not  intellectual  religion- 
ists. They  are  shocked  by  the  irreligion  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  by  Theodore  Parker.  They  read  the  Bible, 
and  can  quote  it;  they  are  ready  with  it  as  an  argu- 
ment at  every  turn.  I  am  of  course  not  used  to  the 
warfare,  and  so  withdraw  from  the  fight. 

"  One  argument  which  three  persons  have  brought 
up  to  me  is  the  superior  condition  of  the  blacks  now, 
to  what  it  would  have  been  had  their  parents  remained 
in  Africa,  and  they  been  children  of  the  soil.  I  make 
no  answer  to  this,  for  if  this  is  an  argument,  it  would  be 
our  duty  to  enslave  the  heathen,  instead  of  attempting 
to  enlighten  them. 

"  We  hear  some  anecdotes  which  are  amusing.  A 
Judge  Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  moved  to  Alabama,  and 
became  a  prominent  man  there.  He  was  sent  to  the 
Senate.  He  was  violently  opposed  by  a  young  man 


70  MARIA    MITCHELL 

who  said  that  but  for  his  gray  hair  he  would  challenge 
him.  Judge  Smith  said,  '  You  are  not  the  first  coward 
who  has  taken  shelter  beneath  my  gray  hairs.' 

"The  same  Judge  Smith,  when  a  proposition  came 
before  the  Senate  to  build  a  State  penitentiary,  said, 
'Wall  in  the  city  of  Mobile;  you  will  have  your  peni- 
tentiary and  its  inmates.' 

"  So  far  I  have  found  it  easier  to  travel  without  an 
escort  South  and  West  than  at  the  North ;  that  is,  I 
have  more  care  taken  of  me.  Every  one  is  courteous, 
too,  in  speech.  I  know  that  they  cannot  love  Massa- 
chusetts, but  they  are  careful  not  to  wound  my  feelings. 
They  acknowledge  it  to  be  the  great  State  in  education  ; 
they  point  to  a  pretty  village  and  say,  '  Almost  as  neat 
as  a  New  England  village.' 

"Savannah,  April  15.  .  .  .  To-day  we  left  town 
at  ten  o'clock  for  a  drive  in  any  direction  that  we  liked. 
Mr.  F.  and  I  went  in  a  buggy,  and  Miss  S.  cantered 
behind  us  on  her  horse. 

"  The  road  that  we  took  led  to  some  rice  plantations 
ten  miles  out  of  the  city.  Our  path  was  ornamented 
by  the  live-oaks,  cedar  trees,  the  dogwood,  and  occa- 
sionally the  mistletoe,  and  enlivened  sometimes  by  the 
whistle  of  the  mocking-bird.  Down  low  by  the  wheels 
grew  the  wild  azalea  and  the  jessamine.  Above  our 
heads  the  Spanish  moss  hung  from  the  trees  in  beauti- 
ful drapery. 

"  By  mistake  we  drove  into  the  plantation  grounds  of 
Mr.  Gibbons,  a  man  of  wealth,  who  is  seldom  on  his 
lands,  and  where  the  avenues  are  therefore  a  little  wild, 
and  the  roads  a  little  rough. 


SOUTHERN    TOUR  7 1 

"  We  came  afterwards  upon  a  road  leading  under  the 
most  magnificent  oaks  that  I  ever  saw.  I  felt  as  if  I 
were  under  the  arched  roof  of  some  ancient  cathedral. 

"  The  trees  were  irregularly  grouped  and  of  immense 
size,  throwing  their  hundreds  of  arms  far  upon  the 
background  of  heaven,  and  bearing  the  drapery  of  the 
Spanish  moss  fold  upon  fold,  as  if  they  sought  to  keep 
their  raiment  from  touching  the  earth.  I  was  perfectly 
delighted,  and  think  it  the  finest  picture  I  have  yet 
seen. 

"  Retracing  our  steps,  we  sought  the  plantation  of 
Mr.  Potter  —  a  very  different  one  from  that  of  Mr. 
Gibbons,  as  all  was  finish  and  neatness ;  a  fine  mansion 
well  stored  with  books,  and  some  fine  oaks,  some  of 
which  Mr.  Potter  had  planted  himself. 

"  Mr.  Potter  walked  through  the  fields  with  us,  and, 
stopping  among  the  negro  huts,  he  said  to  a  little  boy, 
'  Call  the  children  and  give  us  some  singing/  The 
little  boy  ran  off,  shouting,  '  Come  and  sing  for  massa ; ' 
and  in  a  few  minutes  the  little  darkies  might  be  seen 
running  through  the  fields  and  tumbling  over  the 
fences  in  their  anxiety  to  get  to  us,  to  the  number  of 
eighteen. 

"They  sat  upon  the  ground  around  us  and  began 
their  song.  The  boy  who  led  sang  '  Early  in  the 
Morning/  and  the  other  seventeen  brought  in  a  chorus 
of  '  Let  us  think  of  Jesus/  Then  the  leader  set  up 
something  about  '  God  Almicha,'  to  which  the  others 
brought  in  another  chorus. 

"  They  were  a  dirty  and  shabby  looking  set,  but  as 
usual  fat,  even  to  the  little  babies,  whom  the  larger  boys 


72  MARIA    MITCHELL 

were  tending.  One  little  girl  as  she  passed  Mr.  Potter 
carelessly  put  her  hand  in  his  and  said,  '  Good  morn- 
ing, massa.' 

"  Mrs.  G.  tells  me  an  anecdote  which  shows  the 
Southern  sentiment  on  the  one  subject.  The  ladies  of 
Charleston  were  much  pleased  with  Miss  Murray,  and 
got  up  for  her  what  they  called  a  Murray  testimonial, 
a  collection  of  divers  pretty  things  made  by  their  own 
hands.  The  large  box  was  ready  to  be  sent  to  England, 
but  alas  for  Miss  Murray  !  While  they  were  debating  in 
what  way  it  should  be  sent  to  ensure  its  reaching  her 
without  cost  to  herself,  in  an  unwise  moment  she  sent 
twenty-five  dollars  to  '  Bleeding  Kansas/  and  the  fit 
of  good  feeling  towards  her  ebbed ;  the  '  testimonial ' 
remains  unsent. 

"  April  23,  Charleston.  This  place  is  somewhat  like 
Boston  in  its  narrow  streets,  but  unlike  Boston  in 
being  quiet;  as  is  all  the  South.  Quiet  and  moder- 
ation seem  to  be  the  attributes  of  Southern  cities. 
You  need  not  hurry  to  a  boat  for  fear  it  will  leave  at 
the  hour  appointed ;  it  never  does. 

"We  took  a  carriage  and  drove  along  the  Battery. 
The  snuff  of  salt  air  did  me  good. 

"  Then  we  went  on  to  a  garden  of  roses,  owned  and 
cultivated  by  a  colored  woman.  She  has  some  twenty 
acres  devoted  to  flowers  and  vegetables,  and  she  owns 
twenty  *  niggers.'  The  universal  term  for  slaves  is 
'  niggers.'  '  Nigger,  bring  that  horse/  '  Nigger,  get 
out  of  the  way/  will  be  said  by  the  finest  gentleman, 
and  '  My  niggers '  is  said  by  every  one. 

"  I  do  not  believe  that  the  slaves  are  badly  treated ; 


SOUTHERN   TOUR  73 

there  may  be  cases  of  it,  but  I  have  seen  them  only 
sleek,  fat,  and  lazy. 

"  The  old  buildings  of  Charleston  please  me  exceed- 
ingly. The  houses  are  built  of  brick,  standing  end  to 
the  street,  three  stories  in  height,  with  piazza  above 
piazza  at  the  side ;  with  flower  gardens  around,  and 
magnolias  at  the  gates ;  the  winding  steps  to  the  man- 
sions festooned  with  roses. 

"  I  have  just  called  on  Miss  Rutledge,  who  lives  in  the 
second  oldest  house  in  the  city;  herself  a  fine  specimen 
of  antiquity,  in  her  double- ruffled  cap  and  plaided 
black  dress;  she  chatted  away  like  a  young  person, 
using  the  good  old  English. 

"  April  26.  To-day  Mr.  Capers  called  on  me.  I 
was  pleased  with  the  account  he  gave  me  of  his  col- 
lege life,  and  of  a  meeting  held  by  his  class  thirty  years 
after  they  graduated.  Some  thirty  of  them  assembled 
at  the  Revere  House  in  Boston ;  they  spread  a  table 
with  viands  from  all  sections  of  the  country.  Mr. 
Capers  sent  watermelons,  and  another  gentleman  from 
Kentucky  sent  the  wines  of  his  State. 

"  They  sat  late  at  table ;  they  renewed  the  old  friend- 
ships and  talked  over  college  scenes,  and  when  it  was 
near  midnight  some  one  proposed  that  each  should  give 
a  sketch  of  his  life,  so  they  went  through  in  alphabeti- 
cal order. 

"  Adams  was  the  first.  He  said, '  You  all  remember 
how  I  waited  upon  table  in  commons.  You  know  that 
I  afterwards  went  through  college,  but  you  do  not  know 
that  to  this  man  [and  he  pointed  to  a  classmate]  I  was 
indebted  for  the  money  that  paid  for  my  college  course.' 


74  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  Anderson  was  the  second,  and  he  told  of  his 
two  wives:  of  the  first,  much;  of  the  second,  little. 
Bowditch  came  next,  and  he  said  he  would  tell  of 
Anderson's  second  wife,  who  was  a  Miss  Lockworth, 
of  Lexington,  Ky. 

"  Anderson,  a  widower,  and  his  brother  went  to 
Lexington,  carrying  with  them  a  letter  of  introduction 
to  the  father  of  the  young  lady. 

"  While  the  brother  was  making  an  elaborate  toilet, 
Anderson  strolled  out,  and  came,  in  his  walk,  upon  a 
beautiful  residence,  and  saw,  within  the  enclosure,  some 
inviting  grounds.  He  stopped  and  spoke  to  the  porter, 
and  found  it  was  Mr.  Lockworth's.  He  told  the  porter 
that  he  had  letters  to  Mr.  Lockworth,  and  was  intending 
to  call  upon  him.  The  porter  was  very  communica- 
tive, and  told  him  a  good  deal.  Anderson  asked  if 
there  were  not  a  pretty  daughter.  The  porter  asked 
him  to  walk  around.  As  he  entered  the  gate  he  reached 
a  dollar  to  the  man,  and,  being  much  pleased,  when  he 
came  out  he  reached  the  porter  another  dollar. 

"  Anderson  went  back  to  the  hotel,  told  his  brother 
about  it,  and  they  set  out  together  to  deliver  the  letter. 
The  brother  knew  Mr.  Lockworth,  and  as  they  met 
him  in  the -parlor,  he  walked  up,  shook  hands  with  him, 
and  asked  to  present  his  brother,  Lars  Anderson.  *  No 
introduction  is  necessary/  said  Mr.  Lockworth ;  and 
putting  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  drawing  out  the  two 
dollars,  he  added,  '  I  am  already  in  your  debt  just  this 
sum!'  The  *  pretty  daughter'  was  sitting  upon  the 
sofa. 

"  Mr.  Capers  told  me  that  their  autobiographies  drew 


SOUTHERN-    TOUR  75 

smiles  and  tears  alternately;  they  continued  till  one 
o'clock ;  then  one  of  the  class  said,  '  Brothers,  do  you 
know  that  not  a  wineglass  has  yet  been  turned  up,  not 
a  drop  of  wine  drunk?  And  all  were  at  once  so  im- 
pressed with  the  conviction  that  they  had  all  been  lifted 
above  the  needs  of  the  flesh  that  they  refused  to  drink, 
and  one  of  the  clergymen  of  the  class  kneeling  in 
prayer,  they  all  knelt  at  once,  even  to  some  idle 
spectators  who  were  looking  on. 

"  April  28.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  hospitality  shown 
to  us.  We  have  several  invitations  for  each  day,  and 
calls  without  limit. 

"  I  had  heard  Mrs.  Holbrook  described  as  a  wonder, 
and  I  found  her  a  very  pleasing  woman,  all  ready  to 
talk,  and  talking  with  a  richness  of  expression  which 
shows  a  full  mind.  Mrs.  Holbrook  was  a  Rutledge,  and 
it  was  amusing,  after  seeing  her,  to  open  Miss  Bremer's 
'  Homes  of  the  New  World,'  and  read  her  extravagant 
comments.  Miss  Bremer  was  certainly  made  happy  at 
Belmont. 

"  April  29.  To-day  I  have  been  to  see  Miss  Pinck- 
ney.  She  is  the  last  representative  of  her  name,  is  over 
eighty,  and  still  retains  the  animation  of  youth,  though 
somewhat  shaken  in  her  physical  strength  by  age. 
I  found  her  sitting  in  an  armchair,  her  feet  resting 
upon  a  cushion,  surrounded  by  some  half-dozen  callers. 

"  She  rose  at  once  when  I  entered,  and  insisted  upon 
my  occupying  her  seat,  while  she  took  a  less  comfort- 
able one. 

"  The  walls  of  the  room  were  ornamented  with  por- 
traits of  Major-General  Pinckney  by  Stuart,  Stuart's 


76  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Washington,  one  by  Morris  of  General  Thomas  Pinck- 
ney, and  a  portrait  of  Miss  Pinckney's  mother. 

"  Miss  Pinckney  is  a  very  plain  woman,  but  much 
beloved  for  her  benevolence. 

"  It  is  said  that  on  looking  over  her  diary  which  she 
keeps,  recording  the  reasons  for  her  many  gifts  to  her 
friends  and  to  her  slaves,  such  entries  as  these  will  be 
found : 

"  '  $ to  Mary,  because  she  is  married.' 

"  '  $ to  Julia,  because  she  has  no  husband.' 

"  Miss  Pinckney  showed  me  among  her  centre-table 
ornaments  a  miniature  of  Washington ;  one  of  her 
grandmother,  of  exceeding  beauty ;  one  of  each  of  the 
Pinckneys  whose  portraits  are  on  the  walls. 

"Charleston  is  full  of  ante-Revolution  houses,  and  they 
please  me.  They  were  built  when  there  was  no  hurry ; 
they  were  built  to  last,  and  they  have  lasted,  and  will 
yet  last  for  the  children  of  their  present  possessors. 

"  Nothing  can  be  happier  in  expression  than  the  faces 
of  the  colored  children.  They  have  what  must  be  the 
ease  of  the  lower  classes  in  a  despotic  country.  The 
slaves  have  no  care,  no  ambition ;  their  place  is  a  fixed 
one  — they  know  it,  and  take  all  the  good  they  can  get. 
The  children  are  fat,  sleek,  and,  inheriting  no  nervous 
longings  from  their  parents,  are  on  a  constant  grin  —  at 
play  with  loud  laughs  and  high  leaps. 

"  May  i.  It  does  not  follow  because  the  slaves  are 
sleek  and  fat  and  really  happy — for  happy  I  believe 
they  are  —  that  slavery  is  not  an  evil ;  and  the  great  evil 
is,  as  I  always  supposed,  in  the  effect  upon  the  whites. 
The  few  Southern  gentlemen  that  I  know  interest  me 


SOUTHERN   TOUR  77 

from  their  courtesy,  agreeable  manners,  and  ready 
speech.  They  also  strike  me  as  childlike  and  fussy. 
I  catch  myself  feeling  that  I  am  the  man  and  they  are 
women  ;  and  I  see  this  even  in  the  captain  of  a  steamer. 
Then  they  all  like  to  talk  sentiment — their  religion  is 
a  feeling. 

"  May  2.  The  negroes  are  remarkable  for  their 
courtesy  of  manner.  Those  who  belong  to  good 
families  seem  to  pride  themselves  upon  their  dress  and 
style. 

"  A  lady  walking  in  Charleston  is  never  jostled  by 
black  or  white  man.  The  white  man  steps  out  of  her 
way,  the  black  man  does  this  and  touches  his  hat. 
The  black  woman  bows  —  she  is  distinguished  by  her 
neat  dress,  her  clean  plaid  head-dress,  and  her  upright 
carriage.  It  would  be  well  for  some  of  our  young 
ladies  to  carry  burdens  on  their  heads,  even  to  the  risk 
of  flattening  the  instep,  if  by  that  means  they  could 
get  the  straight  back  of  a  slave. 

"  Mrs.  W.,  who  takes  us  out  to  drive,  comes  with  her 
black  coachman  and  a  little  boy.  The  coachman  wears 
white  gloves,  and  looks  like  a  gentleman.  The  little 
boy  rings  door-bells  when  we  stop. 

"  When  it  rained  the  other  day,  Mrs.  W.  dropped 
the  window  of  the  carriage,  and  desired  the  two  to  put 
on  their  shawls,  for  fear  they  would  take  cold.  They 
are  plainly  a  great  care  to  their  owners,  for  they  are 
like  children  and  cannot  take  care  of  themselves ;  and 
yet  in  another  way  the  masters  are  like  children,  from 
the  constant  waiting  upon  that  they  receive.  One  would 
think,  where  one  class  does  all  the  thinking  and  the 


'  78  MARIA    MITCHELL 

other  all  the  working,  that  masters  would  be  active 
thinkers  and  slaves  ready  workers;  but  neither  result 
seems  to  happen  —  both  are  listless  and  inactive. 

"  May  3.  I  asked  Miss  Pinckney  to-day  if  she  remem- 
bered George  Washington.  She  and  Mrs.  Poinsett 
spoke  at  once.  "  'Oh,  yes,  we  were  children/  said  Mrs. 
Poinsett;  'but  my  father  would  have  him  come  to  see 
us,  and  he  took  each  of  us  in  his  arms  and  kissed  us ; 
and  at  another  time  we  went  to  Mt.  Vernon  and  made 
him  a  visit.' 

"  Never  were  more  intelligent  old  ladies  than  Mrs. 
Poinsett  and  Miss  Pinckney.  The  latter  stepped  around 
like  a  young  girl,  and  brought  a  heavy  book  to  show 
me  the  sketch  of  her  sister,  Marie  Henrietta  Pinckney, 
who,  in  the  nullification  time  of  1830,  wrote  a  pamphlet 
in  defence  of  the  State. 

"  Miss  Pinckney's  father  was  the  originator  of  the 
celebrated  maxim,  '  Millions  for  defence,  but  not  one 
cent  for  tribute.'  Their  house  was  the  headquarters 
for  the  nullifiers,  and  they  had  serenades,  she  said,  with- 
out number. 

"It  was  pleasant  to  hear  the  old  ladies  chatter 
away,  and  it  was  interesting  to  think  of  the  distin- 
guished men  who  had  been  under  that  roof,  and  of  the 
cultivated  and  beautiful  women  who  had  adorned  the 
mansion. 

"  Miss  Pinckney,  when  I  left,  followed  me  to  the  door, 
and  put  into  my  hands  an  elegant  little  volume  of 
poems,  called  '  Reliquiai.' 

"  They  seem  to  be  simple  effusions  of  some  person 
who  died  early. 


SOUTHERN   TOUR  79 

"  May  9.  We  left  Charleston,  its  old  houses  and  its 
good  people,  on  Monday,  and  reached  Augusta  the 
same  day. 

"  Augusta  is  prettily  laid  out,  but  the  place  is  of  little 
interest;  and  for  the  hotel  where  we  stayed,  I  can  only 
give  this  advice  to  its  inmates :  '  Don't  examine  a  black 
spot  upon  your  pillow-case ;  go  to  sleep  at  once,  and 
keep  asleep  if  you  can.' 

"  When  we  were  on  the  road  from  Augusta  to  Atlanta, 
the  conductor  said,  '  If  you  are  going  on  to  Nashville, 
you  will  be  on  the  road  in  the  night;  people  don't  love 
to  go  on  that  road  in  the  night.  I  don't  know  why.' 

"  When  we  came  to  the  Nashville  road,  I  thought  that 
I  knew  '  why.'  The  road  runs  around  the  base  of  a 
mountain,  while  directly  beneath  it,  at  a  great  depth, 
runs  a  river.  A  dash  off  the  track  on  one  side  would 
be  against  the  mountain,  on  the  other  side  would  be 
into  the  river,  while  the  sharp  turns  seem  to  invite  such 
a  catastrophe.  When  we  were  somewhat  wrought  up 
to  a  nervous  excitement,  the  cars  would  plunge  into  the 
darkness  of  a  tunnel  —  darkness  such  as  I  almost  felt. 

"  It  was  a  picturesque  but  weary  ride,  and  we  were 
tired  and  hungry  when  we  reached  Nashville. 

"  May  n.  To-day  we  have  been  out  for  a  two- 
hours'  drive.  It  is  warm,  cloudy,  and  looks  like  a 
tempest;  we  are  too  tired  for  much  effort. 

"  Mrs.  Fogg,  of  Nashville,  took  us  to    call    on   the 

widow    of    President    Polk.     We    found    her    at  home 

i 

though  apparently  just  ready  for  a  walk.  She  is  still 
in  mourning,  and  tells  me  that  she  has  not  travelled 
fifty  miles  from  home  in  the  last  eight  years. 


80  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  She  spoke  to  me  of  Governor  Briggs  (of  Massachu- 
setts), an  old  friend;  of  Professor  Hare;  and  said  that 
among  her  cards,  on  her  return  from  a  journey  some 
years  ago,  she  found  Charles  Sumner's  ;  and  forgetting  at 
the  moment  who  he  was,  she  asked  the  servant  who  he 
was.  'The  Abolitionist  Senator  from  Massachusetts  — 
I  asked  him  in,'  was  the  reply. 

"  Mrs.  Polk  talks  readily,  is  handsome,  elegant  in 
figure,  and  shows  at  once  that  she  is  well  read.  She 
told  me  that  she  reads  all  the  newspaper  reports  of  the 
progress  of  science.  She  lives  simply,  as  any  New 
England  woman  would,  though  her  house  is  larger  than 
most  private  residences. 

"  Mrs.  Fogg  told  me  many  anecdotes  of  Dorothea 
Dix.  That  lady  was,  at  one  time,  travelling  alone,  and 
was  obliged  to  stop  at  some  little  village  tavern.  As 
she  lay  half  asleep  upon  the  sofa,  the  driver  of  the 
stage  in  which  she  was  to  take  passage  came  into  the 
room,  approached  her,  and  held  a  light  to  her  closed 
eyes.  She  did  not  dare  to  move  nor  utter  a  sound,  but 
when  he  turned  away  she  opened  her  eyes  and  watched 
him.  He  went  to  the  mail-bags,  opened  them,  took 
out  the  letters,  hastily  broke  the  seals,  took  out  money 
enclosed,  put  it  into  his  pocket,  closed  the  bags,  and 
again  approached  her  with  his  lamp.  She  shut  her 
eyes  and  pretended  to  sleep  again ;  then  at  the  proper 
time  entered  the  stage  and  pursued  her  journey.  At 
the  end  of  the  journey  she  reported  his  conduct  to  the 
proper  authorities. 

"  I  was  a  little  doubtful  about  the  propriety  of  going 
to  the  Mammoth  Cave  without  a  gentleman  escort,  but 


SOUTHERN   TOUR  8 1 

if  two  ladies  travel  alone  they  must  have  the  courage  of 
men.  So  I  called  the  landlord  as  soon  as  we  arrived  at 
the  Cave  House,  and  asked  if  we  could  have  Mat,  who  I 
had  been  told  was  the  best  guide  now  that  Stephen  is 
ill.  The  landlord  promised  Mat  to  me  for  two  days. 
After  dinner  we  made  our  first  attempt. 

"The  ground  descends  for  some  two  hundred  feet 
towards  the  mouth  of  the  cave;  then  you  come  to  a  low 
hill,  and  you  descend  through  a  small  aperture  not  at 
all  imposing,  in  front  of  which  trickles  a  little  stream. 
For  some  little  while  we  needed  no  light,  but  soon  the 
guide  lighted  and  gave  to  each  of  us  a  little  lamp. 
Mat  took  the  lead,  I  came  next,  Miss  S.  followed,  and 
an  old  slave  brought  up  in  the  rear. 

"  I  confess  that  I  shuddered  as  I  came  into  the  dark- 
ness. Our  lamps,  of  course,  gave  but  feeble  light ;  we 
barely  saw  at  first  where  our  feet  must  step. 

"  I  looked  up,  trying  in  vain  to  find  the  ceiling  or  the 
walls.  All  was  darkness.  In  about  an  hour  we  saw 
more  clearly.  The  chambers  are,  many  of  them,  ellip- 
tical in  shape ;  the  ceiling  is  of  mixed  dark  and  white 
color,  and  looks  much  like  the  sky  on  a  cloudy  moon- 
light evening. 

"  A  friend  of  ours,  who  has  been  much  in  the  cave, 
says,  '  If  the  top  were  lifted  off,  and  the  whole  were 
exposed  to  view,  no  woman  would  ever  enter  it  again/ 

"  We  clambered  over  heaps  of  rocks,  we  descended 
ladders,  wound  through  narrow  passages,  passed,  along 
chambers  so  low  that  we  crouched  for  the  whole 
length,  entered  upon  lofty  halls,  ascended  ladders,  and 
crossed  a  bridge  over  a  yawning  abyss. 


82  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  Every  nightmare  scene  that  I  had  ever  dreamed  of 
seemed  to  be  realized.  I  shuddered  several  times,  and 
was  obliged  to  reason  with  myself  to  assure  me  of 
safety.  Occasionally  we  sat  down  and  rested  upon 
some  flat  rock. 

"  Miss  S.,  who  has  a  great  taste  for  costuming,  wound 
her  plaid  shawl  about  her  shoulders,  turbaned  her  head 
with  a  green  veil,  swung  her  lamp  upon  a  stick  which 
she  rested  upon  her  shoulder,  and  then  threw  herself 
upon  a  rock  in  a  most  picturesque  attitude.  The  guide 
took  a  lower  seat,  and  his  dirty  tin  cup,  swung  across 
his  breast,  looked  like  an  ornament  as  the  light  struck 
it ;  his  swarthy  face  was  bright,  and  I  wondered  what 
our  friends  at  home  would  give  for  a  picture. 

"One  of  these  elliptical  halls  has  its  ceiling  immensely 
far  off,  and  of  the  deepest  black,  until  our  feeble  little 
lights  strike  upon  innumerable  points,  when  it  shines 
forth  like  a  dark  starlight  night.  The  stars  are  faint, 
but  they  look  so  exceedingly  like  the  heavens  that  one 
.  easily  forgets  that  it  is  not  reality. 

"The  guide  asked  us  to  be  seated,  while  he  went 
behind  down  a  descent  with  the  lights,  to  show  us 
the  creeping  over  of  the  shadows  of  the  rocks,  as  if  a 
dark  cloud  passed  over  the  starlit  vault.  The  black 
:  cloud  crept  on  and  on  as  the  guide  descended,  until  a 
fear  came  over  us,  and  we  cried  out  together  to  him 
to  come  back,  not  to  leave  us  in  total  darkness.  He 
begged  that  he  might  go  still  lower  and  show  us  entire 
darkness,  but  we  would  not  permit  it. 

"  Guin's  Dome.  What  the  name  means  I  can't  say. 
The  guide  tells  you  to  pause  in  your  scrambling  over 


SOUTHERN   TOUR  83 

loose  stones  and  muddy  soil,  —  which  you  are  always 
willing  to  do,  —  and  to  put  your  head  through  a  circu- 
lar aperture,  and  to  look  up  while  he  lights  the  Bengal 
light;  you  obey,  and  look  up  upon  columns  of  fluted, 
snowy  whiteness ;  he  tells  you  to  look  down,  and  you 
follow  the  same  pillars  down  —  up  to  heights  which  the 
light  cannot  climb,  down  to  depths  on  which  it  cannot 
fall. 

"You  shudder  as  you  look  up,  and  you  shudder  as 
you  look  down.  Indeed,  the  march  of  the  cave  is  a 
series  of  shudders.  Geologists  may  enjoy  it,  a  large 
party  may  be  merry  in  it;  but  if  the  '  underground  rail- 
road '  of  the  slaves  is  of  that  kind,  I  should  rather 
remain  a  slave  than  undertake  a  runaway  trip! 

"  May  1 8.  To-day  we  retraced  our  steps  from  Nash- 
ville to  Chattanooga.  It  had  been  raining  nearly  all 
night,  and  we  found,  when  not  far  from  the  latter  place, 
that  the  streams  were  pouring  down  from  the  high 
lands  upon  the  car-track,  so  that  we  came  through 
rivers.  When  we  dashed  into  the  dark  tunnel  it  was 
darker  than  ever  from  the  darkness  of  the  day,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  the  darkness  pressed  upon  me.  I 
am  sure  I  should  keep  my  senses  a  very  little  while  if 
I  were  confined  in  a  dark  place. 

"As  we  came  out  of  the  tunnel,  the  water  from  the 
hill  above  dashed  upon  the  cars ;  and  although  it  did  not 
break  the  panes  of  glass,  it  forced  its  way  through  and 
sprinkled  us.  . 

"  The  route,  with  all  its  terrors,  is  beautiful,  and  the 
trees  are  now  much  finer  than  they  were  ten  days  ago. 

"  May  27.     There  is  this  great  difference    between 


84  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Niagara  and  other  wonders  of  the  world  :  that  of  it  you 
get  no  idea  from  descriptions,  or  even  from  paintings. 
Of  the  '  Mammoth  Cave '  you  have  a  conception  from 
what  you  are  told;  of  the  Natural  Bridge  you  get  a 
really  truthful  impression  from  a  picture.  But  cave  and 
bridge  are  in  still  life.  Niagara  is  all  activity  and 
change.  No  picture  gives  you  the  varying  form  of  the 
water  or  the  change  of  color;  no  description  conveys 
to  your  mind  the  ceaseless  roar.  So,  too,  the  ocean 
must  be  unrepresentable  to  those  who  have  not  looked 
upon  it. 

"  The  Natural  Bridge  stands  out  bold  and  high,  just 
as  you  expect  to  see  it.  You  are  agreeably  disap- 
pointed, however,  on  finding  that  you  can  go  under  the 
arch  and  be  completely  in  the  coolness  of  its  shade 
while  you  look  up  for  two  hundred  feet  to  the  rocky 
black  and  white  ceiling  above. 

"  One  of  the  prettiest  peculiarities  is  the  fringing 
above  of  the  trees  which  hang  over  the  edge,  and  look- 
ing out  past  the  arch  the  wooded  banks  of  the  ravine 
are  very  pleasant.  From  above,  one  has  the  pain 
always  attendant  to  me  upon  looking  down  into  an 
abyss,  but  at  the  same  time  one  obtains  a  better  con- 
ception of  the  depth  of  the  valley.  It  is  well  worth  see- 
ing, partly  for  itself,  partly  because  it  can  be  reached 
only  by  a  ride  among  the  hills  of  the  Blue  Ridge." 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  85 


CHAPTER   V 
1857 

FIRST   EUROPEAN   TOUR  LIVERPOOL  THE    HAWTHORNES  

LONDON  —    GREENWICH      OBSERVATORY  ADMIRAL      SMYTH 

DR.    LEE 

SHORTLY  after  her  return  from  the  South,  Miss 
Mitchell  started  again  for  a  tour  in  Europe  with  the 
same  young  girl. 

Miss  Mitchell  carried  letters  from  eminent  scientific 
people  in  this  country  to  such  persons  as  it  would  be 
desirable  for  her  to  know  in  Europe ;  especially  to 
astronomers  and  mathematicians. 

When  Miss  Mitchell  went  to  Europe  she  took  her 
Almanac  work  with  her,  and  what  time  she  was  not 
sight-seeing  she  was  continuing  that  work.  Her  wis- 
dom in  this  respect  was  very  soon  apparent.  She  had 
not  been  in  England  many  weeks  when  a  great  financial 
crisis  took  place  in  the  United  States,  and  the  father  of 
her  young  charge  succumbed  to  the  general  failure. 
The  young  lady  was  called  home,  but  after  considering 
the  matter  seriously  Miss  Mitchell  decided  to  remain 
herself,  putting  the  young  lady  into  careful  hands  for 
the  return  passage  from  Liverpool. 

Miss  Mitchell  enjoyed  the  society  of  the  scien- 
tific people  whom  she  met  in  England  to  her  heart's 
content.  She  was  very  cordially  received,  and  the 


86  MARIA    MITCHELL 

astronomers  not  only  opened  their  observatories  to  her, 
but  welcomed  her  into  their  family  life. 

On  arriving  at  Liverpool,  Miss  Mitchell  delivered 
the  letters  to  the  astronomers  living  in  or  near  that 
city,  and  visited  their  observatories. 

"  Aug.  3,  1857.  I  brought  a  letter  from  Professor 
Silliman  to  Mr.  John  Taylor,  cotton  merchant  and 
astronomer;  and  to-day  I  have  taken  tea  with  him. 
He  is  an  old  man,  nearly  eighty  I  should  think,  but  full 
of  life,  and  talks  by  the  hour  on  heathen  mythology. 
He  was  the  principal  agent  in  the  establishment  of  the 
Liverpool  Observatory,  but  disclaims  the  honor,  because 
it  was  established  on  so  small  a  scale,  compared  with 
his  own  gigantic  plan.  Mr.  Taylor  has  invented  a  little 
machine,  for  showing  the  approximate  position  of  a 
comet,  having  the  elements. 

"  He  has  also  made  additions  to  the  globes  made  by 
De  Morgan,  so  that  they  can  be  used  for  any  year 
and  show  the  correct  rising  and  setting  of  the  stars. 

"  He  struck  me  as  being  a  man  of  taste,  but  of  no 
great  profundity.  He  has  a  painting  which  he  believes 
to  be  by  Guido;  it  seemed  to  me  too  fresh  in  its  color- 
ing for  the  sixteenth  century. 

"  August  4,  3  P.M.  I  put  down  my  pen,  because 
old  Mr.  Taylor  called,  and  while  he  was  here  Rev. 
James  Martineau  came.  Mr.  Martineau  is  one  of  the 
handsomest  men  I  ever  saw.  He  cannot  be  more  than 
thirty,  or  if  he  is  he  has  kept  his  dark  hair  remarkably. 
He  has  large,  bluish-gray  eyes,  and  is  tall  and  elegant 
in  manner.  He  says  he  is  just  packed  to  move  to 
London.  He  gave  me  his  London  address  and  hoped 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  87 

he  should  see  me  there ;  but  I  doubt  if  he  does,  for  I 
did  not  like  to  tell  him  my  address  unless  he  asked  for 
it,  for  fear  of  seeming  to  be  pushing. 

"  August,  ...  I  have  been  to  visit  Mr.  Lassell. 
He  called  yesterday  and  asked  me  to  dine  with  him 
to-day.  He  has  a  charming  place,  about  four  miles 
out  of  Liverpool ;  a  pretty  house  and  grounds. 

"  Mr.  Lassell  has  constructed  two  telescopes,  both 
on  the  Newtonian  plan  ;  one  of  ten,  the  other  of  twenty, 
feet  in  length.  Each  has  its  separate  building,  and  in 
the  smaller  building  is  a  transit  instrument. 

"  Mr.  Lassell  must  have  been  a  most  indefatigable 
worker  as  well  as  a  most  ingenious  man ;  for,  besides 
constructing  his  own  instruments,  he  has  found  time 
to  make  discoveries.  He  is,  besides,  very  genial  and 
pleasant,  and  told  me  some  good  anecdotes  connected 
with  astronomical  observations. 

"  One  story  pleased  me  very  much.  Our  Massachu- 
setts astronomer,  Alvan  Clark,  has  long  been  a  corre- 
spondent of  Mr.  Dawes,  but  has  never  seen  him. 
Wishing  to  have  an  idea  of  his  person,  and  being  a 
portrait  painter,  Mr.  Clark  sent  to  Mr.  Dawes  for  his 
daguerreotype,  and  from  that  painted  a  likeness, 
which  he  has  sent  out  to  Liverpool,  and  which  is  said 
to  be  excellent. 

"  Mr.  Lassell  looks  in  at  the  side  of  his  reflecting  tele- 
scopes by  means  of  a  diagonal  eye-piece ;  when  the 
instrument  is  pointed  at  objects  of  high  altitude  he 
hangs  a  ladder  upon  the  dome  and  mounts;  the  ladder 
moves  around  with  the  dome.  Mr.  Lassell  works  only 
for  his  own  amusement,  and  has  been  to  Malta,  — 


88  MARIA    MITCHELL 

carrying  his  larger  telescope  with  him,  —  for  the  sake 
of  clearer  skies.  Neither  Mr.  Lassell  nor  Mr.  Hartnup l 
makes  regular  observations. 

"The  Misses  Lassell,  four  in  number,  seem  to  be  very 
accomplished.  They  take  photographs  of  each  other 
which  are  beautiful,  make  their  own  picture-frames, 
and  work  in  the  same  workshop  with  their  father.  One 
of  them  told  me  that  she  made  observations  on  my 
comet,  supposing  it  to  belong  to  Mr.  Dawes,  who  was 
a  friend  of  hers. 

"  They  keep  an  album  of  the  autographs  of  their 
scientific  visitors,  and  among  them  I  saw  those  of  Pro- 
fessor Young,  of  Dartmouth,  and  of  Professor  Loomis. 

"  August  4.  I  have  just  returned  from  a  visit  to 
the  Liverpool  Observatory,  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Hartnup.  It  is  situated  on  Waterloo  dock,  and  the 
pier  of  the  observatory  rests  upon  the  sandstone  of  that 
region,  The  telescope  is  an  equatorial;  like  many 
good  instruments  in  our  country,  it  is  almost  unused. 

"  Mr.  Hartnup's  observatory  is  for  nautical  purposes. 
I  found  him  a  very  gentlemanly  person,  and  very  will- 
ing to  show  me  anything  of  interest  about  the  observa- 
tory ;  but  they  make  no  regular  series  of  astronomical 
observations,  other  than  those  required  for  the  com- 
merce of  Liverpool. 

"  Mr.  Hartnup  has  a  clock  which  by  the  application 
of  an  electric  current  controls  the  action  of  other  clocks, 
especially  the  town  clock  of  Liverpool  —  distant  some 
miles.  The  current  of  electricity  is  not  the  motive 
power,  but  a  corrector. 

1  Of  the  Liverpool  Observatory. 


FIRST   EUROPEAN   TOUR  89 

"  Much  attention  is  paid  to  meteorology.  The  press- 
ure of  the  wind,  the  horizontal  motion,  and  the  course 
are  recorded  upon  sheets  of  paper  running  upon  cylin- 
ders and  connected  with  the  clock;  the  instrument 
which  obeys  the  voice  of  the  wind  being  outside. 

"  Aug.  5,  1857.  I  did  not  send  my  letter  to  Mr. 
Hawthorne  until  yesterday,  supposing  that  he  was  not 
in  the  city ;  but  yesterday  when  Rev.  James  Martineau 
called  on  me,  he  said  that  he  had  not  yet  left.  Mr. 
Martineau  said  that  it  would  be  a  great  loss  to  Liver- 
pool when  Mr.  Hawthorne  went  away. 

"  I  sent  my  letter  at  once ;  from  all  that  I  had  heard 
of  Mr.  Hawthorne's  shyness,  I  thought  it  doubtful  if  he 
would  call,  and  I  was  therefore  very  much  pleased  when 
his  card  was  sent  in  this  morning.  Mr.  Hawthorne  was 
more  chatty  than  I  had  expected,  but  not  any  more 
diffident.  He  remained  about  five  minutes,  during 
which  time  he  took  his  hat  from  the  table  and  put  it 
back  once  a  minute,  brushing  it  each  time.  The  en- 
gravings in  the  books  are  much  like  him.  He  is  not 
handsome,  but  looks  as  the  author  of  his  books  should 
look ;  a  little  strange  and  odd,  as  if  not  of  this  earth. 
He  has  large,  bluish-gray  eyes ;  his  hair  stands  out  on 
each  side,  so  much  so  that  one's  thoughts  naturally 
turn  to  combs  and  hair-brushes  a,nd  toilet  ceremonies 
as  one  looks  at  him." 

Later,  when  Miss  Mitchell  was  in  Paris,  alone,  on 
her  way  to  Rome,  she  sent  to  the  Hawthornes,  who 
were  also  in  Paris,  asking  for  the  privilege  of  joining 
them,  as  they  too  were  journeying  in  the  same 
direction.  She  says  in  her  diary: 


QO  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  Mrs.  Hawthorne  was  feeble,  and  she  told  me  that 
she  objected,  but  that  Mr.  Hawthorne  assured  her  that 
I  was  a  person  who  would  give  no  trouble ;  therefore 
she  consented.  We  were  about  ten  days  on  the  journey 
to  Rome,  and  three  months  in  Rome ;  living,  however, 
some  streets  asunder.  I  saw  them  nearly  every  day. 
Like  everybody  else,  I  found  Mr.  Hawthorne  very 
taciturn.  His  few  words  were,  however,  very  telling. 
When  I  talked  French,  he  told  me  it  was  capital :  '  It 
came  down  like  a  sledge-hammer.'  His  little  satirical 
remarks  were  such  as  these:  It  was  March  and  I  took 
a  bunch  of  violets  to  Rosa ;  notched  white  paper  was 
wound  around  them,  and  Mr.  Hawthorne  said,  '  They 
have  on  a  cambric  ruffle." 

"  Generally  he  sat  by  an  open  fire,  with  his  feet 
thrust  into  the  coals,  and  an  open  volume  of  Thackeray 
upon  his  knees.  He  said  that  Thackeray  was  the 
greatest  living  novelist.  I  sometimes  suspected  that 
the  volume  of  Thackeray  was  kept  as  a  foil,  that  he 
might  not  be  talked  to.  He  shrank  from  society,  but 
rode  and  walked." 

EXTRACT    FROM    A   LETTER. 

ROME,  Feb.  16,  1858. 

The  Hawthornes  are  invaluable  to  me,  because  the  little 
ones  come  to  my  room  «every  day  and  I  go  there  when  I  like. 
Mrs.  Hawthorne  sometimes  walks  with  us,  Mr.  H.  never.  He  has 
a  horror  of  sight-seeing  and  of  emotions  in  general,  but  I  like  him 
very  much,  and  when  I  say  I  like  him  it  only  means  that  I  like 
her  a  little  more.  Julian,  the  boy,  is  in  love  with  me.  When  I 
was  last  there  Mr.  H.  came  home  with  me ;  as  he  put  on  his  coat  he 
turned  to  Julian  and  said,  "Julian,  I  should  think  with  your  tender 
interest  in  Miss  Mitchell  you  wouldn't  let  me  escort  her  home.'1 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  91 

"  We  arrived  in  Rome  in  the  evening.  Mrs.  H.  was 
somewhat  of  an  invalid,  and  Mr.  Hawthorne  tried  in 
vain  to  make  the  servant  understand  that  she  must  have 
a  fire  in  her  room.  He  spoke  no  word  of  French, 
German,  or  Italian,  but  he  said  emphatically,  '  Make  a 
fire  in  Mrs.  Hawthorne's  room.'  Worn  out  with  his 
efforts,  he  turned  to  me  and  said,  'Do,  Miss  Mitchell, 
tell  the  servant  what  I  want ;  your  French  is  excellent ! 
Englishmen  and  Frenchmen  understand  it  equally 
well.'  So  I  said  in  execrable  French,  '  Make  a  fire,' 
and  pointed  to  the  grate ;  of  course  the  gesture  was 
understood. 

"  Mr.  Hawthorne  was  minutely  and  scrupulously 
honest;  I  should  say  that  he  was  a  rigid  temperance 
man.  Once  I  heard  Mrs.  Hawthorne  say  to  the  clerk, 
'  Send  some  brandy  to  Mr.  Hawthorne  at  once.'  We 
were  six  in  the  party.  When  I  paid  my  bill  I  heard 
Mr.  Hawthorne  say  to  Miss  S.,  the  teacher,  who  took 
all  the  business  cares,  '  Don't  let  Miss  Mitchell  pay 
for  one-sixth  of  my  brandy.'  '  • 

"  So  if  we  ordered  tea  for  five,  and  six  partook 
of  it,  he  called  the  waiter  and  said,  '  Six  have  partaken 
of  the  tea,  although  there  was  no  tea  added  to  the 
amount.' 

"  I  told  Mr.  Hawthorne  that  a  friend  of  mine,  Miss  W., 
desired  very  much  to  see  him,  as  she  admired  him  very 
much.  He  said,  '  Don't  let  her  see  me,  let  her  keep  her 
little  lamp  burning.' 

"  He  was  a  sad  man  ;  I  could  never  tell  why.  I  never 
could  get  at  anything  of  his  religious  views. 

"  He   was   wonderfully   blest   in   his   family.      Mrs. 


92  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Hawthorne  almost  worshipped  him.  She  was  of  a  very 
serious  and  religious  turn  of  mind. 

"  I  dined  with  them  the  day  that  Una  was  sixteen 
years  old.  We  drank  her  health  in  cold  water.  Mr. 
Hawthorne  said,  '  May  you  live  happily,  and  be  ready 
to  go  when  you  must/ 

"  He  joined  in  the  family  talk  very  pleasantly.  One 
evening  we  made  up  a  story.  One  said,  '  A  party  was 
in  Rome;'  another  said,  '  It  was  a  pleasant  day ;'  another 
said, '  They  took  a  walk.'  It  came  to  Hawthorne's  turn, 
and  he  said,  'Do  put  in  an  incident;'  so  Rosa  said, 
'  Then  a  bear  jumped  from  the  top  of  St.  Peter's  ! '  The 
story  went  no  further. 

" 1  was  with  the  family  when  they  first  went  to  St. 
Peter's.  Hawthorne  turned  away  saying,  '  The  St.  Peter's 
of  my  imagination  was  better.' 

"  I  think  he  could  not  have  been  well,  he  was  so  very 
inactive.  If  he  walked  out  he  took  Rosa,  then  a  child 
of  six,  with  him.  He  once  came  with  her  to  my  room, 
but  he  seemed  tired  from  the  ascent  of  the  stairs.  I  was 
on  the  fifth  floor. 

"  I  have  been  surprised  to  see  that  he  made  severe 
personal  remarks  in  his  journal,  for  in  the  three  months 
that  I  knew  him  I  never  heard  an  unkind  word ;  he  was 
always  courteous,  gentle,  and  retiring.  Mrs.  Hawthorne 
said  she  took  a  wifely  pride  in  his  having  no  small 
vices.  Mr.  Hawthorne  said  to  Miss  S.,  '  I  have  yet  to 
find  the  first  fault  in  Mrs.  Hawthorne.' 

"  One  day  Mrs.  Hawthorne  came  to  my  room,  held 
up  an  inkstand,  and  said,  '  The  new  book  will  be  begun 
to-night.' 


FIRST   EUROPEAN    TOUR  93 

"  This  was  '  The  Marble  Faun.'  She  said, <  Mr.  Haw- 
thorne writes  after  every  one  has  gone  to  bed.  I  never 
see  the  manuscript  until  it  is  what  he  calls  clothed'  .  .  . 
Mrs.  H.  says  he  never  knows  when  he  is  writing  a  story 
how  the  characters  will  turn  out ;  he  waits  for  them  to 
influence  him. 

"  I  asked  her  if  Zenobia  was  intended  for  Margaret 
Fuller,  and  she  said, '  No  ;  '  but  Mr.  Hawthorne  admitted 
that  Margaret  Fuller  seemed  to  be  around  him  when  he 
was  writing  it. 

"  London,  August.  We  went  out  for  our  first  walk 
as  soon  as  breakfast  was  over,  and  we  walked  on 
Regent  street  for  hours,  looking  in  at  the  shop  win- 
dows. The  first  view  of  the  street  was  beautiful,  for  it 
was  a  misty  morning,  and  we  saw  its  length  fade  away 
as  if  it  had  no  end.  I  like  it  that  in  our  first  walk  we 
came  upon  a  crowd  standing  around  '  Punch.'  It  is  a 
ridiculous  affair,  but  as  it  is  as  much  a  *  peculiar  insti- 
tution '  as  is  Southern  slavery,  I  stopped  and  listened, 
and  after  we  came  into  the  house  Miss  S.  threw  out 
some  pence  for  them.  We  rested  after  the  shop 
windows  of  Regent  street,  took  dinner,  and  went  out 
again,  this  time  to  Piccadilly. 

"  The  servility  of  the  shopkeepers  is  really  a  little 
offensive.  '  What  shall  I  have  the  honor  of  showing 
you  ?  '  they  say. 

"  Our  chambermaid,  at  our  lodgings,  thanks  us  every 
time  we  speak  to  her. 

"  I  feel  ashamed  to  reach  a  four-penny  piece  to  a 
stout  coachman  who  touches  his  hat  and  begs  me  to 
remember  him.  Sometimes  I  am  ready  to  say,  '  How 


94  MARIA    MITCHELL 

can  I  forget  you,  when  you  have  hung  around  me  so 
closely  for  half  an  hour?' 

"  Our  waiter  at  the  Adelphi  Hotel,  at  Liverpool,  was 
a  very  respectable  middle-aged  man,  with  a  white  neck- 
cloth ;  he  looked  like  a  Methodist  parson.  He  waited 
upon  us  for  five  days  with  great  gravity,  and  then 
another  waiter  told  us  that  we  could  give  our  waiter 
what  we  pleased.  We  were  charged  £i  for  '  attend- 
ance '  in  the  bill,  but  I  very  innocently  gave  half  as 
much  more,  as  fee  to  the  '  parson.' 

"August  14.  To-day  we  took  a  brougham  and 
drove  around  for  hours.  Of  course  we  didn't  see 
London,  and  if  we  stay  a  month  we  shall  still  know 
nothing  of  it,  it  is  so  immense.  I  keep  thinking,  as  I 
go  through  the  streets,  of  '  The  rats  and  the  mice,  they 
made  such  a  strife,  he  had  to  go  to  London,'  etc.,  and 
especially  '  The  streets  were  so  wide,  and  the  lanes 
were  so  narrow ;  '  for  I  never  saw  such  narrow  streets, 
even  in  Boston. 

"  We  have  begun  to  send  out  letters,  but  as  it  is 
'  out  of  season  '  I  am  afraid  everybody  will  be  at  the 
watering-places. 

THE  GREENWICH  OBSERVATORY.  "  The  observatory 
was  founded  by  Charles  II.  The  king  that  '  never  said  a 
foolish  thing  and  never  did  a  wise  one  '  was  yet  sagacious 
enough  to  start  an  institution  which  has  grown  to  be  a 
thing  of  might,  and  this,  too,  of  his  own  will,  and  not  from 
the  influence  of  courtiers.  One  of  the  hospital  buildings 
of  Greenwich,  then  called  the  '  House  of  Delights,'  was  the 
residence  of  Henrietta  Maria,  and  the  young  prince  proba- 
bly played  on  the  little  hill  now  the  site  of  the  observatory. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN-   TOUR  95 

"  But  Charles,  though  he  started  an  observatory,  did 
not  know  very  well  what  was  needed.  The  first  build- 
ing consisted  of  a  large,  octagonal  room,  with  windows 
all  around ;  it  was  considered  sufficiently  firm  without 
any  foundation,  and  sufficiently  open  to  the  heavens 
with  no  opening  higher  than  windows.  This  room  is 
now  used  as  a  place  of  deposit  for  instruments,  and 
busts  and  portraits  of  eminent  men,  and  also  as  the 
dancing-hall  for  the  director's  family. 

"  Under  Mr.  Airy's1  direction,  the  walls  of  the  observ- 
ing-room  have  become  pages  of  its  history.  The  tran- 
sit instruments  used  by  Halley,  Bradley,  and  Pond  hang 
side  by  side ;  the  zenith  sector  with  which  Bradley  dis- 
covered the  'aberration  of  light/  now  moving  rustily  on 
its  arc,  is  the  ornament  of  another  room ;  while  the 
shelves  of  the  computing-room  are  filled  with  volumes 
of  unpublished  observations  of  Flamstead  and  others. 

"  The  observatory  stands  in  Greenwich  Park,  the 
prettiest  park  I  have  yet  seen ;  being  a  group  of  small 
hills.  They  point  out  oaks  said  to  belong  to  Elizabeth's 
time  —  noble  oaks  of  any  time.  The  observatory  is  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  sea  level.  The  view 
from  it  is,  of  course,  beautiful.  On  the  north  the  river, 
the  little  Thames,  big  with  its  fleet,  is  winding  around 
the  Isle  of  Dogs ;  on  the  left  London,  always  overhung 
with  a  cloud  of  smoke,  through  which  St.  Paul's  and 
the  Houses  of  Parliament  peep. 

"  Mr.  Airy  was  exceedingly  kind  to  me,  and  seemed 
to  take  great  interest  in  showing  me  around.  He 
appeared  to  be  much  gratified  by  my  interest  in  the 

1  The  late  Sir  George  Airy. 


96  MARIA    MITCHELL 

history  of  the  observatory.  He  is  naturally  a  despot, 
and  his  position  increases  this  tendency.  Sitting  in  his 
chair,  the  'zero-point  of  longitude  for  the  world,  he 
commands  not  only  the  little  knot  of  observers  and 
computers  around  him,  but  when  he  says  to  London, 
'  It  is  one  o'clock,'  London  adopts  that  time,  and  her 
ships  start  for  their  voyages  around  the  globe,  and  con- 
tinue to  count  their  time  from  that  moment,  wherever 
the  English  flag  is  borne. 

"  It  is  singular  what  a  quiet  motive-power  Science  is, 
the  breath  of  a  nation's  progress. 

"  Mr.  Airy  is  not  favorable  to  the  multiplication  of 
observatories.  He  predicted  the  failure  of  that  at 
Albany.  He  says  that  he  would  gladly  destroy  one- 
half  of  the  meridian  instruments  of  the  world,  by  way 
of  reform.  I  told  him  that  my  reform  movement  would 
be  to  bring  together  the  astronomers  who  had  no  instru- 
ments and  the  instruments  which  had  no  astronomers. 

"  Mr.  Airy  is  exceedingly  systematic.  In  leading  me 
by  narrow  passages  and  up  steep  staircases,  from  one 
room  to  another  of  the  irregular  collection  of  rooms, 
he  was  continually  cautioning  me  about  my  footsteps, 
and  in  one  place  he  seemed  to  have  a  kind  of  formula : 
'  Three  steps  at  this  place,  ten  at  this,  eleven  at  this, 
and  three  again.5  So,  in  descending  a  ladder  to  the 
birthplace  of  the  galvanic  currents,  he  said,  '  Turn 
your  back  to  the  stairs,  step  down  with  the  right  foot, 
take  hold  with  the  right  hand  ;  reverse  the  operation  in 
ascending;  do  not,  on  coming  out,  turn  around  at 
once,  but  step  backwards  one  step  first.' 

"Near   the    throne   of  the    astronomical  autocrat   is 


FIRST   EUROPEAN"    TOUR  97 

another  proof  of  his  system,  in  a  case  of  portfolios. 
These  contain  the  daily  bills,  letters,  and  papers,,  as 
they  come  in  and  are  answered  in  order.  When  a 
portfolio  is  full,  the  papers  are  removed  and  are  sewed 
together.  Each  year's  accumulation  is  bound,  and  the 
bound  volumes  of  Mr.  Airy's  time  nearly  cover  one 
side  of  his  private  room. 

"  Mr.  Airy  replies  to  all  kinds  of  letters,  with  two 
exceptions :  those  which  ask  for  autographs,  and  those 
which  request  him  to  calculate  nativities.  Both  of 
these  are  very  frequent. 

"In  the  drawing-room  Mr.  Airy  is  cheery;  he  loves 
to  recite  ballads  and  knows  by  heart  a  mass  of  verses, 
from  '  A,  Apple  Pie,'  to  the  '  Lady  of  the  Lake.' 

"  A  lover  of  Nature  and  a  close  observer  of  her  ways, 
as  well  in  the  forest  walk  as  in  the  vault  of  heaven, 
Mr.  Airy  has  roamed  among  the  beautiful  scenery  of 
the  Lake  region  until  he  is  as  good  a  mountain  guide 
as  can  be  found.  He  has  strolled  beside  Grassmere 
and  ascended  Helvellyn.  He  knows  the  height  of  the 
mountain  peaks,  the  shingles  that  lie  on  their  sides, 
the  flowers  that  grow  in  the  valleys,  the  mines  beneath 
the  surface. 

"  At  one  time  the  Government  Survey  planted  what 
is  called  a  '  Man '  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  hills  of  the 
Lake  region.  In  a  dry  season  they  built  up  a  stone 
monument,  right  upon  the  bed  of  a  little  pond.  The 
country  people  missed  the  little  pond,  which  had 
seemed  to  them  an  eye  of  Nature  reflecting  heaven's 
blue  light.  They  begged  for  the  removal  of  the  sur- 
veyor's pile,  and  Mr.  Airy  at  once  changed  the  station. 


98  MARIA    MITCHELL 

11  The  established  observatories  of  England  do  not  step 
out  of  their  beaten  path  to  make  discoveries  —  these 
come  from  the  amateurs.  In  this  respect  they  differ 
from  America  and  Germany.  The  amateurs  of  Eng- 
land do  a  great  deal  of  work,  they  learn  to  know  of 
what  they  and  their  instruments  are  capable,  and  it  is 
done. 

"  The  library  of  Greenwich  Observatory  is  large. 
The  transactions  of  learned  societies  alone  fill  a  small 
room ;  the  whole  impression  of  the  thirty  volumes  of 
printed  observations  fills  a  wall  of  another  room,  and 
the  unpublished  papers  of  the  early  directors  make  of 
themselves  a  small  manuscript  library. 

"October  22,  1857.  We  have  just  returned  from 
our  fourth  visit  to  Greenwich,  like  the  others  twenty- 
four  hours  in  length.  We  go  again  to-morrow  to  meet 
the  Sabines. 

"  Herr  Struve,  the  director  of  the  Pulkova  Observa- 
tory, is  at  Greenwich,  with  his  son  Karl.  The  old 
gentleman  is  a  magnificent-looking  fellow,  very  large 
and  well  proportioned ;  his  great  head  is  covered  with 
white  hair,  his  features  are  regular  and  handsome. 
When  he  is  introduced  to  any  one  he  thrusts  both  hands 
into  the  pockets  of  his  pantaloons,  and  bows.  I  found 
that  the  son  considered  this  position  of  the  hands  par- 
ticularly English.  However,  the  old  gentleman  did  me 
the  honor  to  shake  hands  with  me,  and  when  I  told  him 
that  I  brought  a  letter  to  him  from  a  friend  in  America, 
he  said,  '  It  is  quite  unnecessary,  I  know  you  without.' 
He  speaks  very  good  English. 

"  Herr  Struve's  mission  in  England  is  to  see  if  he  can 


FIRST   EUROPEAN   TOUR  99 

connect  the  trigonometrical  surveys  of  the  two  coun- 
tries. It  is  quite  singular  that  he  should  visit  England 
for  this  purpose,  so  soon  after  Russia  and  England  were 
at  war.  One  of  his  sons  was  an  army  surgeon  at  the 
Crimea. 

"Five  visitors  remained  all  night  at  the  observatory. 
I  slept  in  a  little  round  room  and  Miss  S.  in  another,  at 
the  top  of  a  little  jutting-out,  curved  building.  Mrs. 
Airy  says,  '  Mr.  Airy  got  permission  of  the  Board  of 
Visitors  to  fit  up  some  of  the  rooms  as  lodging-rooms.' 
Mr.  Airy  said,  '  My  dear  love,  I  did  as  I  always  do :  I 
fitted  them  up  first,  and  then  I  reported  to  the  Board 
that  I  had  done  it.' 

"  October  23.  Another  dinner-party  at  the  obser- 
vatory, consisting  of  the  Struves,  General  and  Mrs. 
Sabine,  Professor  and  Mrs.  Powell,  Mr.  Main,  and  our- 
selves ;  more  guests  coming  to  tea. 

"  Mrs.  Airy  told  me  that  she  should  arrange  the 
order  of  the  guests  at  table  to  please  herself;  that  prop- 
erly all  of  the  married  ladies  should  precede  me,  but 
that  I  was  really  to  go  first,  with  Mr.  Airy.  To  effect 
this,  however,  she  must  explain  it  to  Mrs.  Sabine,  the 
lady  of  highest  rank. 

"  So  we  went  out,  Professor  Airy  and  myself,  Profes- 
sor Powell  and  Mrs.  Sabine,  General  Sabine  and  Mrs. 
Powell,  Mr.  Charles  Struve  and  Miss  S.,  Mr.  Main, 
Mrs.  Airy,  and  Professor  Struve. 

"  General  Sabine  is  a  small  man,  gray  haired  and 
sharp  featured,  about  seventy  years  old.  He  smiles 
very  readily,  and  is  chatty  and  sociable  at  once.  He 
speaks  with  more  quickness  and  ease  than  most  of  the 


100  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Englishmen  I  have  met.  Mrs.  Sabine  is  very  agreea- 
ble and  not  a  bit  of  a  blue-stocking. 

"The  chat  at  table  was  general  and  very  interesting. 
Mr.  Airy  says,  'The  best  of  a  good  dinner  is  the 
amount  of  talk.'  He  talked  of  the  great  '  Leviathan ' 
which  he  and  Struve  had  just  visited,  then  anecdotes 
were  told  by  others,  then  they  went  on  to  comic  poetry. 
Mr.  Airy  repeated  '  The  Lost  Heir/  by  Hood.  Gen- 
eral Sabine  told  droll  anecdotes,  and  the  point  was  often 
lost  upon  me,  because  of  the  local  allusions.  One  of 
his  anecdotes  was  this :  '  Archbishop  Whately  did  not 
like  a  professor  named  Robert  Daly;  he  said  the  Irish 
were  a  very  contented  people,  they  were  satisfied  with 
one  bob  daily!  I  found  that  a  '  bob  '  is  a  shilling. 

"  When  the  dinner  was  over,  the  ladies  left  the  room, 
and  the  gentlemen  remained  over  their  wine ;  but  not  for 
long,  for  Mr.  Airy  does  not  like  it,  and  Struve  hates  it. 

"  Then,  before  tea,  others  dropped  in  from  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  the  tea  was  served  in  the  drawing-room, 
handed  round  informally. 

" August  15.  Westminster  Abbey  interested  me 
more  than  I  had  expected.  We  went  into  the  chapels 
and  admired  the  sculpture  when  the  guide  told  us  we 
ought,  and  stopped  with  interest  sometimes  over  some 
tomb  which  he  did  not  point  out. 

"  I  stepped  aside  reverently  when  I  found  I  was 
standing  on  the  stone  which  covers  the  remains  of  Dr. 
Johnson.  It  is  cracked  across  the  middle.  Gar.rick 
lies  by  the  side  of  Johnson,  and  I  thought  at  first  that 
Goldsmith  lay  near;  but  it  is  only  a  monument  —  the 
body  is  interred  in  Temple  churchyard. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TQUR  ,101 


"You  are  continually  misled  in  this way  lintess'ybtf 
refer  at  every  minute  to  your  guide-book,  and  to  go 
through  Europe  reading  a  guide-book  which  you  can 
read  at  home  seems  to  be  a  waste  of  time.  On  the 
stone  beneath  which  Addison  lies  is  engraved  the  verse 
from  Tickell's  ode : 

*«  '  Ne'er  to  these  chambers  where  the  mighty  rest,1  etc. 

"  The  base  of  Newton's  monument  is  of  white  marble, 
a  solid  mass  large  enough  to  support  a  coffin  ;  upon  that 
a  sarcophagus  rests.  The  remains  are  not  enclosed 
within.  As  I  stepped  aside  I  found  I  had  been  stand- 
ing upon  a  slab  marked  '  Isaac  Newton/  beneath  which 
the  great  man's  remains  lie. 

"  On  the  side  of  the  sarcophagus  is  a  white  marble 
slab,  with  figures  in  bas-relief.  One  of  these  imaginary 
beings  appears  to  be  weighing  the  planets  on  a  steel- 
yard. They  hang  like  peas !  Another  has  a  pair  of 
bellows  and  is  blowing  a  fire.  A  third  is  tending  a 
plant. 

"  On  this  sarcophagus  reclines  a  figure  of  Newton,  of 
full  size.  He  leans  his  right  arm  upon  four  thick  vol- 
umes, probably  '  The  Principia,'  and  he  points  his  left 
hand  to  a  globe  above  his  head  on  which  the  goddess 
Urania  sits ;  she  leans  upon  another  large  book. 

"  Newton's  head  is  very  fine,  and  is  probably  a  por- 
trait. The  left  hand,  which  is  raised,  has  lost  two 
fingers.  I  thought  at  first  that  this  had  been  the  work 
of  some  '  undevout  astronomer,'  but  when  I  came  to 
'  read  up '  I  found  that  at  one  time  soldiers  were 
quartered  in  the  abbey,  and  probably  one  of  them 


JQ2 , MARIA    MITCHELL 


'  wanted  a  finger  with  which  to  crowd  the  tobacco  into 
his  pipe,  and  so  broke  off  one. 

"August  17.  To-day  we  have  been  to  the  far- 
famed  British  Museum.  I  carried  an  '  open  sesame  ' 
in  the  form  of  a  letter  given  to  me  by  Professor  Henry, 
asking  for  me  special  attention  from  all  societies  with 
which  the  '  Smithsonian '  at  Washington  is  connected. 

"  I  gave  the  paper  first  to  a  police  officer ;  a  police 
officer  is  met  at  every  turn  in  London.  He  handed  it 
to  another  official,  who  said,  '  You'd  better  go  to  the 
secretary/ 

"  I  walked  in  the  direction  towards  which  he  pointed, 
a  long  way,  until  I  found  the  secretary.  He  called 
another  man,  and  asked  him  to  show  me  whatever  I 
wanted  to  see. 

"  This  man  took  me  into  another  room,  and  con- 
signed me  to  still  another  man  —  the  fifth  to  whom  I 
had  been  referred.  No.  5  was  an  intelligent  and  polite 
person,  and  he  began  to  talk  about  America  at  once. 

"  I  asked  to  see  anything  which  had  belonged  to 
Newton,  and  he  told  me  they  had  one  letter  only,  —  from 
Newton  to  Leibnitz,  —  which  he  showed  me.  It  was 
written  in  Latin,  with  diagrams  and  formulae  inter- 
spersed. The  reply  of  Leibnitz,  copied  by  Newton, 
was  also  in  their  collection,  and  an  order  from  Newton 
written  while  he  was  director  of  the  mint. 

"  No.  5  also  showed  me  the  illuminated  manuscripts  of 
the  collection ;  they  are  kept  locked  in  glass-topped 
cases,  and  a  curtain  protects  them  from  the  light.  We 
saw  also  the  oldest  copy  of  the  Bible  in  the  world. 

"The  art  of  printing  has  brought  incalculable  bless- 


FIRST   EUROPEAN   TOUR  103 

ings;  but  as  I  looked  at  a  neat  manuscript  book  by 
Queen  Elizabeth,  copied  from  another  as  a  present  to 
her  father,  I  could  not  help  thinking  it  was  much 
better  than  worsted  work ! 

"  A  much-worn  prayer-book  was  shown  me,  said  to  be 
the  one  used  by  Lady  Jane  Grey  when  on  the  scaffold. 
Nothing  makes  me  more  conscious  that  I  am  on  foreign 
soil  than  the  constant  recurrence  of  associations  con- 
nected with  the  executioner's  block.  We  hung  the 
Quakers  and  we  burned  the  witches,  but  we  are  careful  not 
to  remember  the  localities  of  our  barbarisms ;  we  show 
instead  the  Plymouth  Rock  or  the  Washington  Elm. 

"  Among  other  things,  we  were  shown  the  '  Magna 
Charta  '  —  a  few  fragments  of  worn-out  paper  on  which 
some  words  could  be  traced ;  now  carefully  preserved 
in  a  frame,  beneath  a  glass. 

"  Thus  far  England  has  impressed  me  seriously;  I 
cannot  imagine  how  it  has  ever  earned  the  name  of 
1  Merrie  England.' 

"  August  19.  There  are  four  great  men  whose 
haunts  I  mean  to  seek,  and  on  whose  footsteps  I  mean 
to  stand:  Newton,  Shakspere,  Milton,  and  Johnson. 

"  To-day  I  told  the  driver  to  take  me  to  St.  Martin's, 
where  the  guide-book  says  that  Newton  lived.  He  put 
me  down  at  the  Newton  Hotel,  but  I  looked  in  vain  to 
its  top  to  see  anything  like  an  observatory. 

"  I  went  into  a  wine-shop  near,  and  asked  a  girl,  who 
was  pouring  out  a  dram,  in  which  house  Newton  lived. 
She  pointed,  not  to  the  hotel,  but  to  a  house  next  to  a 
church,  and  said,  'That's  it —  don't  you  see  a  place  on 
the  top?  That's  where  he  used  to  study  nights.' 


104  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  It  is  a  little,  oblong-shaped  observatory,  built  appar- 
ently of  wood,  and  blackened  by  age.  The  house  is  a 
good-looking  one  —  it  seems  to  be  of  stone.  The  girl 
said  the  rooms  were  let  for  shops. 

"  Next  I  told  the  driver  to  take  me  to  Fleet  street, 
to  Gough  square,  and  to  Bolt  court,  where  Johnson 
lived  and  died. 

"  Bolt  court  lies  on  Fleet  street,  and  it  is  but  few  steps 
along  a  narrow  passage  to  the  house,  which  is  now  a 
hotel,  where  Johnson  died ;  but  you  must  walk  on 
farther  through  the  narrow  passage,  a  little  fearful  to  a 
woman,  to  see  the  place  where  he  wrote  the  dictionary. 
The  house  is  so  completely  within  a  court,  in  which 
nothing  but  brick  walls  could  be  seen,  that  one  wonders 
what  the  charm  of  London  could  be,  to  induce  one  to 
live  in  that  place.  But  a  great  city  always  draws  to 
itself  the  great  minds,  and  there  Johnson  probably 
found  his  enjoyment. 

"  August  27.  We  took  St.  Paul's  Church  to-day. 
We  took  tickets  for  the  vaults,  the  bell/the  crypt,  the 
whispering-gallery,  the  clock  and  all.  We  did  not  know 
what  was  before  us.  It  was  a  little  tiresome  as  far  as 
the  library  and  the  room  of  Nelson's  trophies,  but  to 
my  surprise,  when  the  guide  said,  '  Go  that  way  for  the 
clock,'  he  did  not  take  the  lead,  but  pointed  up  a  stair- 
case, and  I  found  myself  the  pioneer  in  the  narrowest 
and  darkest  staircase  I  ever  ascended.  It  was  really 
perfect  darkness  in  some  of  the  places,  and  we  had  to 
feel  our  way.  We  all  took  a  long  breath  when  a  gleam 
of  light  came  in  at  some  narrow  windows  scattered 
along.  At  the  top,  in  front  of  the  clock  works,  stood  a 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  105 

woman,  who  began  at  once  to  tell  us  the  statistics  of  the 
pendulum,  to  which  recital  I  did  not  choose  to  listen. 
She  was  not  to  go  down  with  us,  and,  panting  with 
fatigue  and  trembling  with  fright,  we  groped  our  way 
down  again. 

"  There  was  another  long,  but  easy,  ascent  to  the 
'whispering-gallery/  which  is  a  fine  place  from  which 
to  look  down  upon  the  interior  of  the  church.  The 
man  in  attendance  looked  like  a  respectable  elderly 
gentleman.  He  told  us  to  go  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  gallery,  and  he  would  whisper  to  us.  We  went 
around,  and,  worn  out  with  fatigue,  dropped  upon  a 
bench. 

"  The  man  began  to  whisper,  putting  his  mouth  to  an 
opening  in  the  wall;  we  heard  noises,  but  could  not 
tell  what  he  said. 

"  To  my  amazement,  this  very  respectable-looking 
elderly  gentleman,  as  we  passed  him  in  going  out, 
whispered  again,  and  as  this  time  he  put  his  mouth 
close  to  my  ear,  I  understood !  He  said,  '  If  you  will 
give  anything  for  the  whisper,  it  will  be  gratefully 
received.'  There  are  notices  all  over  the  church  forbid- 
ding fees,  and  I  felt  that  the  man  was  a  beggar  at  best 
—  more  properly  a  pickpocket. 

"  A  figure  of  Dr.  Johnson  stands  in  one  of  the  aisles 
of  the  church.  It  must  be  like  him,  for  it  is  exceed- 
ingly ugly. 

"  September  3.  We  have  been  three  weeks  in  Lon- 
don '  out  of  season,'  but  with  plenty  of  letters.  At 
present  we  have  as  many  acquaintances  as  we  desire. 
Last  night  we  were  at  the  opera,  to-night  we  go  out  to 


106  MARIA    MITCHELL 

dine,  and  to-morrow  evening  to  a  dance,  the  next  day  to 
Admiral  Smyth's. 

"  The  opera  fatigued  me,  as  it  always  does.  I  tired 
my  eyes  and  ears  in  the  vain  effort  to  appreciate  it. 
Mario  was  the  great  star  of  the  evening,  but  I  knew  no 
difference. 

"  One  little  circumstance  showed  me  how  an  Ameri- 
can, with  the  best  intentions,  may  offend  against  good 
manners.  American-like  we  had  secured  very  good 
seats,  were  in  good  season,  and  as  comfortable  as  the 
very  narrow  seats  would  permit  us  to  be,  before  most 
of  the  audience  arrived.  The  house  filled,  and  we  sat 
at  our  ease,  feeling  our  importance,  and  quite  uncon- 
scious that  we  were  guilty  of  any  impropriety.  While 
the  curtain  was  down,  I  heard  a  voice  behind  me  say  to 
the  gentleman  who  was  with  us,  '  Is  the  lady  on  your 
left  with  you?'  —  'Yes,'  said  Mr.  R.  —  'She  wears  a 
bonnet,  which  is  not  according  to  rule.'  —  '  Too  late 
now/  said  Mr.  R.  —  'It  is  my  fault/  said  the  attendant; 
'  I  ought  not  to  have  admitted  her ;  I  thought  it  was  a 
hood.' 

"  I  was  really  in  hopes  that  I  should  be  ordered  out, 
for  I  was  exceedingly  fatigued  and  should  have  been 
glad  of  some  fresh  air.  On  looking  around,  I  saw  that 
only  the  '  pit '  wore  bonnets. 

"  September  6.  We  left  London  yesterday  for 
Aylesbury.  It  is  two  hours  by  railroad.  Like  all  rail- 
roads in  England,  it  runs  seemingly  through  a  garden. 
In  many  cases  flowers  are  cultivated  by  the  roadside. 

"  From  Aylesbury  to  Stone,  the  residence  of  Ad- 
miral Smyth,  it  is  two  miles  of  stage-coach  riding. 


FIRST   EUROPEAN   TOUR  IO/ 

Stage-coaches  are  now  very  rare  in  England,  and  I 
was  delighted  with  the  chance  for  a  ride. 

"  We  found  the  stage-coach  crowded.  The  driver 
asked  me  if  we  were  for  St.  John's  Lodge,  and  on  my 
replying  in  the  affirmative  gave  me  a  note  which  Mrs. 
Smyth  had  written  to  him,  to  ask  for  inside  seats.  The 
note  had  reached  him  too  late,  and  he  said  we  must 
go  on  the  outside.  He  brought  a  ladder  and  we  got 
up.  For  a  minute  I  thought,  '  What  a  height  to  fall 
from !  '  but  the  afternoon  was  so  lovely  that  I  soon  for- 
got the  danger  and  enjoyed  the  drive.  There  were  six 
passengers  on  top. 

"  Aylesbury  is  a  small  town,  and  Stone  is  a  very  small 
village.  The  driver  stopped  at  what  seemed  to  be  a 
cultivated  field,  and  told  me  that  I  was  at  my  journey's 
end.  On  looking  down  I  saw  a  wheelbarrow  near  the 
fence,  and  I  remembered  that  Mrs.  Smyth  had  said  that 
one  would  be  waiting  for  our  luggage,  and  I  soon  saw 
Mrs.  Smyth  and  her  daughter  coming  towards  us.  It 
was  a  walk  of  about  an  eighth  of  a  mile  to  the  '  Lodge  '— 
a  pleasant  cottage  surrounded  by  a  beautiful  garden,.. 

"  Admiral  Smyth's  family  go  to  a  little  church  seven 
hundred  years  old,  standing  in  the  midst  of  tombstones 
and  surrounded  by  thatched  cottages.  English  scenery 
seems  now  (September)  much  like  our  Southern,  scemr 
ery  in  April  —  rich  and  lovely,  but  wanting  mountains 
and  water.  An  English  village  could  never  be  mistaken 
for  an  American  one  :  the  outline  against  the  sky  differs ; 
a  thatched  cottage  makes  a  very  wavy  line  on  the  blue 
above. 

"  We  find  enough  in  St.  John's  Lodge,  in  the  admiral's 


108  MARIA    MITCHELL 

library,  and  in  the  society  of  the  cultivated  members  of 
his  family  to  interest  us  for  a  long  time. 

"  The  admiral  himself  is  upwards  of  sixty  years  of 
age,  noble-looking,  loving  a  good  joke,  an  antiquarian, 
and  a  good  astronomer.  I  picked  up  many  an  anec- 
dote from  him,  and  many  curious  bits  of  learning. 

"  He  tells  a  good  story,  illustrative  of  his  enthusiasm 
when  looking  at  a  crater  in  the  moon.  He  says  the 
night  was  remarkably  fine,  and  he  applied  higher  and 
higher  powers  to  his  glass  until  he  seemed  to  look 
down  into  the  abyss,  and  imagining  himself  standing  on 
its  verge  he  felt  himself  falling  in,  and  drew  back  with  a 
shudder  which  lasted  even  after  the  illusion  was  over. 

"  In  speaking  of  Stratford-upon-Avon,  the  admiral 
told  me  that  the  Lucy  family,  one  of  whose  ancestors 
drove  Shakspere  from  his  grounds,  and  who  is  cari- 
catured in  Justice  Shallow,  still  resides  on  the  same  spot 
as  in  Shakspere's  time.  He  says  no  family  ever  re- 
tained their  characteristics  more  decidedly. 

"  Some  years  ago  one  of  this  family  was  invited  to  a 
Shakspere  dinner.  He  resented  the  well-meant  invi- 
tation, saying  they  must  surely  have  forgotten  how  that 
person  treated  his  ancestor ! 

"  The  amateur  astronomers  of  England  are  numer- 
ous, but  they  are  not  like  those  of  America. 

"  In  America  a  poor  schoolmaster,  who  has  some 
bright  boys  who  ask  questions,  buys  a  glass  and  be- 
comes a  star-gazer,  without  time  and  almost  without 
instruments ;  or  a  watchmaker  must  know  the  time,  and 
therefore  watches  the  stars  as  time-keepers.  In  almost 
all  cases  they  are  hard-working  men. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN    TOUR  IOQ 

"  In  England  it  is  quite  otherwise.  A  wealthy  gen- 
tleman buys  a  telescope  as  he  would  buy  a  library,  as 
an  ornament  to  his  house. 

"  Admiral  Smyth  says  that  no  family  is  quite  civilized 
unless  it  possesses  a  copy  of  some  encyclopaedia  and  a 
telescope.  The  English  gentleman  uses  both  for 
amusement.  If  he  is  a  man  of  philosophical  mind  he 
soon  becomes  an  astronomer,  or  if  a  benevolent  man  he 
perceives  that  some  friend  in  more  limited  circumstances 
might  use  it  well,  and  he  offers  the  telescope  to  him,  or 
if  an  ostentatious  man  he  hires  some  young  astron- 
omer of  talent,  who  comes  to  his  observatory  and  makes 
a  name  for  him.  Then  the  queen  confers  the  honor  of 
knighthood,  not  upon  the  young  man,  but  upon  the 
owner  of  the  telescope.  Sir  James  South  was  knighted 
for  this  reason. 

"  We  have  been  visiting  Hartwell  House,  an  old 
baronial  residence,  now  the  property  of  Dr.  Lee,  a 
whimsical  old  man. 

"  This  house  was  for  years  the  residence  of  Louis 
XVIII.,  and  his  queen  died  here.  The  drawing-room 
is  still  kept  as  in  those  days ;  the  blue  damask  on  the 
walls  has  been  changed  by  time  to  a  brown.  The 
rooms  are  spacious  and  lofty,  the  chimney-pieces  of 
richly  carved  marble.  The  ceiling  of  one  room  has  fine 
bas-relief  allegorical  figures. 

"Books  of  antiquarian  value  are  all  around  — one 
whole  floor  is  covered  with  them.  They  are  almost 
never  opened.  In  some  of  the  rooms  paintings  are  on 
the  walls  above  the  doors. 

"  Dr.  Lee's  modern  additions  are  mostly  paintings  of 


1 10  MARIA    MITCHELL 

himself  and  a  former  wife,  and  are  in  very  bad  taste. 
He  has,  however,  two  busts  of  Mrs.  Somerville,  from 
which  I  received  the  impression  that  she  is  handsome, 
but  Mrs.  Smyth  tells  me  she  is  not  so ;  certainly  she  is 
sculpturesque. 

"The  royal  family,  on  their  retreat  from  Hartwell 
House,  left  their  prayer-book,  and  it  still  remains  on  its 
stand.  The  room  of  the  ladies  of  the  bedchamber  is 
papered,  and  the  figure  of  a  pheasant  is  the  prevailing 
characteristic  of  the  paper.  The  room  is  called  '  The 
Pheasant  Room.'  One  of  the  birds  has  been  carefully 
cut  out,  and,  it  is  said,  was  carried  away  as  a  memento 
by  one  of  the  damsels. 

"  Dr.  Lee  is  second  cousin  to  Sir  George  Lee,  who 
died  childless.  He  inherits  the  estate,  but  not  the  title. 
The  estate  has  belonged  to  the  Lees  for  four  hundred 
years.  As  the  doctor  was  a  Lee  only  through  his 
mother,  he  was  obliged  to  take  her  name  on  his  acces- 
sion to  the  property.  He  applied  to  Parliament  to  be 
permitted  to  assume  the  title,  and,  being  refused,  from  a 
strong  Tory  he  became  a  Liberal,  and  delights  in  curry- 
ing favor  with  the  lowest  classes ;  he  has  twice  married 
below  his  rank.  Being  remotely  connected  with  the 
Hampdens,  he  claims  John  Hampden  as  one  of  his 
family,  and  keeps  a  portrait  of  him  in  a  conspicuous 
place. 

"A  summer-house  on  the  grounds  was  erected  by 
Lady  Elizabeth  Lee,  and  some  verses  inscribed  on  its 
walls,  written  by  her,  show  that  the  Lees  have  not 
always  been  fools. 

"  But  Dr.  Lee  has  his  way  of  doing  good.     Being 


FIRST   EUROPEAN    TOUR  III 

fond  of  astronomy,  he  has  bought  an  eight  and  a  half 
feet  equatorial  telescope,  and  with  a  wisdom  which  one 
could  scarcely  expect,  he  employed  Admiral  Smyth  to 
construct  an  observatory.  He  has  also  a  fine  transit 
instrument,  and  the  admiral,  being  his  near  neighbor, 
has  the  privilege  of  using  the  observatory  as  his  own 
In  the  absence  of  the  Lees  he  has  a  private  key,  with 
which  he  admits  himself  and  Mrs.  Smyth.  They  make 
the  observations  (Mrs.  Smyth  is  a  very  clever  astron- 
omer), sleep  in  a  room  called  'The  Admiral's  Room,' 
find  breakfast  prepared  for  them  in  the  morning,  and 
return  to  their  own  house  when  they  choose. 

"  I  saw  in  the  observatory  a  timepiece  with  a 
double  second-hand;  one  of  these  could  be  stopped  by 
a  touch,  and  would,  in  that  way,  show  an  observer  the 
instant  when  he  thought  a  phenomenon,  as  an  occulta- 
tion  for  instance,  had  occurred,  and  yet  permit  him  to 
go  on  with  his  count  of  the  seconds,  and,  if  necessary, 
correct  his  first  impression. 

"  Admiral  Smyth  is  a  hard  worker,  but  I  suspect  that 
many  of  the  amateur  astronomers  of  England  are  Dr. 
Lees  —  rich  men  who,  as  a  hobby,  ride  astronomy  and 
employ  a  good  astronomer.  Dr.  Lee  gives  the  use  of 
a  good  instrument  to  the  curate ;  another  to  Mr.  Pay- 
son,  of  Cambridge,  who  has  lately  found  a  little  planet. 

"  I  saw  at  Admiral  Smyth's  some  excellent  photo- 
graphs of  the  moon,  but  in  England  they  have  not  yet 
photographed  the  stars." 


112  MARIA    MITCHELL 


CHAPTER  VI 

1857 

FIRST   EUROPEAN   TOUR   CONTINUED CAMBRIDGE    UNIVERSITY 

AMBLESIDE  — •  MISS     SOUTHEY THE     HERSCHELS  —  A    LONDON 

ROUT EDINBORO*  AND    GLASGOW  OBSERVATORIES "  REFLEC- 
TIONS  AND    MUTTERINGS  " 

"  IF  any  one  wishes  to  know  the  customs  of  centuries 
ago  in  England,  let  him  go  to  Cambridge. 

"  Sitting  at  the  window  of  the  hotel,  he  will  see  the 
scholars,  the  fellows,  the  masters  of  arts,  and  the 
masters  of  colleges  passing  along  the  streets  in  their 
different  gowns.  Very  unbecoming  gowns  they  are,  in 
all  cases ;  and  much  as  the  wearers  must  be  accustomed 
to  them,  they  seem  to  step  awkwardly,  and  to  have  an 
ungraceful  feminine  touch  in  their  motions. 

"  Everything  that  you  see  speaks  of  the  olden  time. 
Even  the  images  above  the  arched  entrance  to  the  courts 
around  which  the  buildings  stand  are  crumbling  slowly, 
and  the  faces  have  an  unearthly  expression. 

"  If  the  visitor  is  fortunate  enough  to  have  an  intro- 
duction to  one  of  the  college  professors,  he  will  be  taken 
around  the  buildings,  to  the  libraries,  the  'Combina- 
tion '  room  to  which  the  fellows  retire  to  chat  over  their 
wine,  and  perhaps  even  to  the  kitchen. 

"  Our  first  knowledge  of  Cambridge  was  the  entrance 
to  Trinity  College  and  the  Master's  Lodge. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  113 

"  We  arrived  in  Cambridge  just  about  at  lunch  time 
—  one  o'clock. 

"  Mrs.  Airy  said  to  me,  'Although  we  are  invited  to 
be  guests  of  Dr.  Whewell,  he  is  quite  too  mighty  a 
man  to  come  to  meet  us/  Her  sons,  however,  met  us, 
and  we  walked  with  them  to  Dr.  Whewell's. 

"The  Master's  Lodge,  where  Dr.  Whewell  lives,  is  one 
of  the  buildings  composing  the  great  pile  of  Trinity 
College.  One  of  the  rooms  in  the  lodge  still  remains 
nearly  as  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  It  is  immense  in 
size,  and  has  two  oriel  windows  hung  with  red  velvet. 
In  this  room  the  queen  holds  her  court  when  she  is  in 
Cambridge ;  for  the  lodge  then  becomes  a  palace,  and 
the  '  master  '  retires  to  some  other  apartments,  and  comes 
to  dinner  only  when  asked. 

"  It  is  said  that  the  present  master  does  not  much 
like  to  submit  to  this  position. 

"  In  this  great  room  hang  full-length  portraits  of 
Henry  and  Elizabeth.  On  another  wall  is  a  portrait  of 
Newton,  and  on  a  third  the  sweet  face  of  a  young  girl, 
Dr.  Whewell's  niece,  of  whom  I  heard  him  speak  as 
'  Kate.' 

"  Dr.  Whewell  received  us  in  this  room,  standing  on 
a  rug  before  an  open  fireplace ;  a  wood  fire  was  burn- 
ing cheerily.  Mrs.  Airy's  daughter,  a  young  girl,  was 
with  us. 

"  Dr.  Whewell  shook  hands  with  us,  and  we  stood. 
I  was  very  tired,  but  we  continued  to  stand.  In  an 
American  gentleman's  house  I  should  have  asked  if 
I  might  sit,  and  should  have  dropped  upon  a  chair; 
here,  of  course,  I  continued  to  stand.  After,  perhaps, 


114  MARIA    MITCHELL 

fifteen  minutes,  Dr.  Whewell  said,  '  Will  you  sit?'  and 
the  four  of  us  dropped  upon  chairs  as  if  shot ! 

"  The  master  is  a  man  to  be  noted,  even  physically. 
He  is  much  above  ordinary  size,  and,  though  now  gray- 
haired,  would  be  extraordinarily  handsome  if  it  were 
not  for  an  expression  of  ill-temper  about  the  mouth. 

"  An  Englishmen  is  proud ;  a  Cambridge  man  is  the 
proudest  of  Englishmen ;  and  Dr.  Whewell,  the  proud- 
est of  Cambridge  men. 

"  In  the  opinion  of  a  Cambridge  man,  to  be  master 
of  Trinity  is  to  be  master  of  the  world  ! 

"  At  lunch,  to  which  we  stayed,  Dr.  Whewell  talked 
about  American  writers,  and  was  very  severe  upon 
them ;  some  of  them  were  friends  of  mine,  and  it  was 
not  pleasant.  But  I  was  especially  hurt  by  a  remark 
which  he  made  afterwards.  Americans  are  noted  in 
England  for  their  use  of  slang.  The  English  suppose 
that  the  language  of  Sam  Slick  or  of  Nasby  is  the 
language  used  in  cultivated  society.  They  do  not  seem 
to  understand  it,  and  I  have  no  doubt  to-day  that 
Lowell's  comic  poems  are  taken  seriously.  So  at  this 
table,  Dr.  Whewell,  wishing  to  say  that  we  would  do 
something  in  the  way  of  sight-seeing  very  thoroughly, 
turning  to  me,  said,  '  We'll  go  the  whole  hog,  Miss 
Mitchell,  as  you  say  in  America.' 

"  I  turned  to  the  young  American  girl  who  sat  next 
to  me,  and  said, '  Miss  S.,  did  you  ever  hear  that  expres- 
sion except  on  the  street?  '  '  Never,'  she  replied. 

"  Afterwards  he  said  to  me,  '  You  in  America  think 
you  know  something  about  the  English  language, 
and  you  get  out  your  Webster's  dictionary,  and  your 


FIRST   EUROPEAN    TOUR  115 

Worcester's  dictionary,  but  we  here  in  Cambridge  think 
we  know  rather  more  about  English  than  you  do.' 

"  After  lunch  we  went  to  the  observatory.  The 
Cambridge  Observatory  has  the  usual  number  of 
meridian  instruments,  but  it  has  besides  a  good  equa- 
torial telescope  of  twenty  feet  in  length,  mounted  in 
the  English  style ;  for  Mr.  Airy  was  in  Cambridge  at 
the  time  of  its  establishment.  In  this  pretty  observa- 
tory, overlooking  the  peaceful  plains,  with  some  small 
hills  in  the  distance,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Airy  passed  the  first 
year  of  their  married  life. 

"  Professor  Challis,  the  director,  is  exceedingly  short, 
thick-headed  (in  appearance),  and,  like  many  of  the 
English,  thick-tongued.  While  I  was  looking  at  the 
instruments,  Mrs.  Airy  came  into  the  equatorial  house, 
bringing  Mr.  Adams,  the  rival  of  Leverrier,1  —  another 
short  man,  but  bright-looking,  with  dark  hair  and  eyes, 
and  again  the  thick  voice,  this  time  with  a  nasal  twang. 
He  is  a  fellow  of  Pembroke  College,  and  master  of  arts. 
If  Mr.  Adams  had  become  a  fellow  of  his  own  college, 
St.  John,  he  must  have  gone  into  holy  orders,  as  it  is 
called ;  this  he  was  not  willing  to  do ;  he  accepted  a 
fellowship  from  Pembroke. 

"  Mr.  Adams  is  a  merry  little  man,  loves  games 
with  children,  and  is  a  favorite  with  young  ladies. 

"At  6.30  we  went  again  to  the  lodge  to  dine.  We 
were  a  little  late,  and  the  servant  was  in  a  great  hurry  to 
announce  us ;  but  I  made  him  wait  until  my  gloves  were 
on,  though  not  buttoned.  He  announced  us  with  a 
loud  voice,  and  Dr.  WThewell  came  forward  to  receive 

1  See  Chapter  VII. 


Il6  MARIA    MITCHELL 

us.  Being  announced  in  this  way,  the  other  guests  do 
not  wait  for  an  introduction.  There  was  a  group  of 
guests  in  the  drawing-room,  and  those  nearest  me  spoke 
to  me  at  once. 

"  Dinner  was  announced  immediately,  and  Dr.  Whe- 
well  escorted  me  downstairs,  across  an  immense  hall, 
to  the  dining-room,  outside  of  which  stood  the  waiters, 
six  in  number,  arranged  in  a  straight  line,  in  livery,  of 
course.  One  of  them  had  a  scarlet  vest,  short  clothes, 
and  drab  coat. 

"  As  I  sat  next  to  the  master,  I  had  a  good  deal  of  talk 
with  him.  He  was  very  severe  upon  Americans  ;  he  said 
that  Emerson  did  not  write  good  English,  and  copied 
Carlyle !  I  thought  his  severity  reached  really  to 
discourtesy,  and  I  think  he  perceived  it  when  he  asked 
me  if  I  knew  Emerson  personally,  and  I  replied  that 
I  did,  and  that  I  valued  my  acquaintance  with  him 
highly. 

"  I  got  a  little  chance  to  retort,  by  telling  him  that  we 
had  outgrown  Mrs.  Hemans  in  America,  and  that  we 
now  read  Mrs.  Browning  more.  He  laughed  at  it,  and 
said  that  Mrs.  Browning's  poetry  was  so  coarse  that  he 
could  not  tolerate  it,  and  he  was  amused  to  hear  that 
any  people  had  got  above  Mrs.  Hemans ;  and  he  asked 
me  if  we  had  outgrown  Homer !  To  which  I  replied 
that  they  were  not  similar  cases. 

"  Altogether,  there  was.  a  tone  of  satire  in  Dr.  Whe- 
well's  remarks  which  I  did  not  think  amiable. 

"  There  were,  as  there  are  very  commonly  in  English 
society,  some  dresses  too  low  for  my  taste  ;  and  the  wine- 
drinking  was  universal,  so  that  I  had  to  make  a  special 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR 

point  of  getting  a  glass  of  water,  and  was  afraid  I  might 
drink  all  there  was  on  the  table ! 

"  Before  the  dessert  came  on,  saucers  were  placed 
before  each  guest,  and  a  little  rose-water  dipped  into 
them  from  a  silver  basin ;  then  each  guest  washed  his 
face  thoroughly,  dipping  his  napkin  into  the  saucer. 
Professor  Willis,  who  sat  next  to  me,  told  me  that  this 
was  a  custom  peculiar  to  Cambridge,  and  dating  from 
its  earliest  times. 

"  The  ringer  bowls  came  on  afterwards,  as  usual. 

"  It  is  customary  for  the  lady  of  the  house  or  the 
'  first  lady  '  to  turn  to  her  nearest  neighbor  at  the  close 
of  dinner  and  say,  '  Shall  we  retire  to  the  drawing- 
room?'  Now,  there  was  no  lady  of  the  house,  and  I 
was  in  the  position  of  first  lady.  They  might  have  sat 
there  for  a  thousand  years  before  I  should  have  thought 
of  it.  I  drew  on  my  gloves  when  the  other  ladies  drew 
on  theirs,  and  then  we  waited.  Mrs.  Airy  saw  the 
dilemma,  made  the  little  speech,  and  the  gentlemen 
escorted  us  to  the  door,  and  then  returned  to  their 
wine. 

"  We  went  back  to  the  drawing-room  and  had  coffee; 
after  coffee  new  guests  began  to  come,  and  we  went 
into  the  magnificent  room  with  the  oriel  windows. 

"  Professor  Sedgwick  came  early  —  an  old  man  of 
seventy-four,  already  a  little  shattered  and  subject  to 
giddiness.  He  is  said  to  be  very  fond  of  young  ladies 
even  now,  and  when  younger  made  some  heartaches ; 
for  he  could  not  give  up  his  fellowship  and  leave  Cam- 
bridge for  a  wife;  which,  to  me,  is  very  unmanly.  He 
is  considered  the  greatest  geologist  in  England,  and  of 


Il8  MARIA    MITCHELL 

course  they  would  say  '  in  the  world,'  and  is  much 
loved  by  all  who  know  him.  He  came  to  Cambridge 
a  young  man,  and  the  elms  which  he  saw  planted  are 
now  sturdy  trees.  It  is  pleasant  to  hear  him  talk  of 
Cambridge  and  its  growth  ;  he  points  to  the  stately  trees 
and  says,  '  Those  trees  don't  look  as  old  as  I,  and  they 
are  not.' 

"  I  did  not  see  Professor  Adams  at  that  time,  but  I 
spent  the  whole  of  Monday  morning  walking  about  the 
college  with  him.  I  asked  him  to  show  me  the  place 
where  he  made  his  computations  for  Neptune,  and  he 
was  evidently  well  pleased  to  do  so. 

"We  laughed  over  a  roll,  which  we  saw  in  the 
College  library,  containing  a  list  of  the  ancestors  of 
Henry  VIII. ;  among  them  was  Jupiter. 

"  Professor  Adams  tells  me  that  in  Wales  genealogi- 
cal charts  go  so  far  back  that  about  half-way  between 
the  beginning  and  the  present  day  you  find  this 
record  :  '  About  this  time  the  world  was  created  ' ! 

"Novembers.  At  lunch  to-day  Dr.  Whewell  was 
more  interesting  than  I  had  seen  him  before.  He 
asked  me  about  Laura  Bridgman,  and  said  that  he  knew 
a  similar  case.  He  contended,  in  opposition  to  Mrs. 
Airy  and  myself,  that  loss  of  vision  was  preferable  to 
loss  of  hearing,  because  it  shut  one  out  less  from  human 
companionship. 

"  Dr.  Whewell's  self-respect  and  immense  self-esteem 
led  him  to  imperiousness  of  manner  which  touches  the 
border  of  discourtesy.  He  loves  a  good  joke,  but  his 
jests  are  serious.  He  writes  verses  that  are  touchingly 
beautiful,  but  it  is  difficult  to  believe,  in  his  presence, 


FIRST   EUROPEAN    TOUR  119 

that  he  writes  them.  Mrs.  Airy  said  that  Dr.  Whewell 
and  I  riled  each  other  ! 

"  I  was  at  an  evening  party,  and  the  Airy  boys, 
young  men  of  eighteen  and  twenty,  were  present.  They 
stood  the  whole  time,  occasionally  leaning  against  a 
table  or  the  piano,  in  their  blue  silk  gowns.  I  urged 
them  to  sit.  '  Of  course  not,'  they  said ;  '  no  under- 
graduate sits  in  the  master's  presence ! ' 

"  I  went  to  three  services  on  '  Scarlet  Sunday/  for  the 
sake  of  seeing  all  the  sights. 

"The  costumes  of  Cambridge  and  Oxford  are  very 
amusing,  and  show,  more  than  anything  I  have  seen,  the 
old-fogyism  of  English  ways.  Dr.  Whewell  wore,  on 
this  occasion,  a  long  gown  reaching  nearly  to  his  feet, 
of  rich  scarlet,  and  adorned  with  flowing  ribands.  The 
ribands  did  not  match  the  robe,  but  were  more  of  a 
crimson. 

"  I  wondered  that  a  strong-minded  man  like  Dr. 
Whewell  could  tolerate  such  trappings  for  a  moment; 
but  it  is  said  that  he  is  rather  proud  of  them,  and  loves 
all  the  etiquette  of  the  olden  time,  as  also,  it  is  said, 
does  the  queen. 

"  In  these  robes  Dr.  Whewell  escorted  me  to  church 
—  and  of  course  we  were  a  great  sight ! 

"  Before  dinner,  on  this  Scarlet  Sunday,  there  was  an 
interval  when  the  master  was  evidently  tried  to  know 
what  to  do  with  me.  At  length  he  hit  upon  an  expedi- 
ent. '  Boys,'  he  said  to  the  young  Airys,  *  take  Miss 
Mitchell  on  a  walk !  ' 

"  I  was  a  little  surprised  to  find  myself  on  a  walk, 
<  nolens  volens ;  '  so  as  soon  as  we  were  out  of  sight  of 


120  MARIA    MITCHELL 

the  master  of  Trinity,  I  said,  '  Now,  young  gentlemen, 
as  I  do  not  want  to  go  to  walk,  we  won't  go ! ' 

"  It  was  hard  for  me  to  become  accustomed  to  Eng- 
lish ideas  of  caste.  I  heard  Professor  Sedgwick  say 
that  Miss  Herschel,  the  daughter  of  Sir  John  and  niece 
to  Caroline,  married  a  Gordon.  4  Such  a  great  match 
for  her  !  '  he  added  ;  and  when  I  asked  what  match  could 
be  great  for  a  daughter  of  the  Herschels,  I  was  told  that 
she  had  married  one  of  the  queen's  household,  and  was 
asked  to  sit  in  the  presence  of  the  queen ! 

"  When  I  hear  a  missionary  tell  that  the  pariah  caste 
sit  on  the  ground,  the  peasant  caste  lift  themselves  by 
the  thickness  of  a  leaf,  and  the  next  rank  by  the 
thickness  of  a  stalk,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  heathen 
has  reached  a  high  state1  of  civilization  —  precisely  that 
which  Victoria  has  reached  when  she  permits  a  Her-s 
schel  to  sit  in  her  presence ! 

"  The  University  of  Cambridge  consists  of  sixteen 
colleges.  I  was  told  that,  of  these,  Trinity  leads  and 
St.  John  comes  next. 

"  Trinity  has  always  led  in  mathematics ;  it  boasts  of 
Newton  and  Byron  among  its  graduates.  Milton  be- 
longed to  Christ  Church  College ;  the  mulberry  tree 
which  he  planted  still  flourishes. 

"  Even  to-day,  a  young  scholar  of  Trinity  expressed 
his  regret  to  me  that  Milton  did  not  belong  to  the 
college  in  which  he  himself  studied.  He  pointed  out 
the  rooms  occupied  by  Newton,  and  showed  us  '  New- 
ton's Bridge,'  '  which  will  surely  fall  when  a  greater 
man  than  he  walks  over  it ' ! 

"  Milton  first  planned  the  great  poem, '  Paradise  Lost,' 


FIRST   EUROPEAN    TOUR  121 

as  a  drama,  and  this  manuscript,  kept  within  a  glass 
case,  is  opened  to  the  page  on  which  the  dramatis 
persona  are  planned  and  replanned.  On  the  opposite 
page  is  a  part  of  '  Lycidas,'  neatly  written  and  with  few 
corrections. 

"  The  most  beautiful  of  the  college  buildings  is 
King's  Chapel.  A  Cambridge  man  is  sure  to  take  you 
to  one  of  the  bridges  spanning  the  wretched  little 
stream  called  the  '  Silver  Cam,'  that  you  may  see  the 
architectural  beauties  of  this  building. 

"  It  is  well  to  attend  service  in  one  or  the  other  of 
the  chapels,  to  see  assembled  the  young  men,  who  are 
almost  all  the  sons  of  the  nobility  or  gentry.  The  pro- 
priety of  their  conduct  struck  me. 

"  The  fellows  of  the  colleges  are  chosen  from  the 
'  scholars  '  who  are  most  distinguished,  as  the  '  scholars ' 
are  chosen  from  the  undergraduates.  They  receive  an 
income  so  long  as  they  remain  connected  with  the 
college  and  unmarried. 

"  They  have  also  the  use  of  rodms  in  the  college ; 
they  dine  in  the  same  hall  with  the  undergraduates,  but 
their  tables  are  placed  upon  a  raised  dais;  they  have 
also  little  garden-places  given  them. 

"  '  What  are  their  duties?  '  I  asked  Mr.  Airy.  '  None 
at  all ;  they  are  the  college.  It  would  not  be  a  seat  of 
learning  without  them.' 

"  They  say  in  Cambridge  that  Dr.  Whewell's  book, 
'  Plurality  of  Worlds,'  reasons  to  this  end  :  The  planets 
were  created  for  this  world ;  this  world  for  man ;  man 
for  England  ;  England  for  Cambridge ;  and  Cambridge 
for  Dr.  Whewell! 


122  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  Ambleside,  September  13.  We  have  spent  the 
Sunday  in  ascending  a  mountain.  I  have  a  minute 
route  marked  out  for  me  by  Professor  Airy,  who  has 
rambled  among  the  lakes  and  mountains  of  Cumber- 
land and  Westmoreland  for  months,  and  says  that  no 
man  lives  who  knows  them  better  than  he. 

"  In  accordance  with  these  directions,  I  took  a  one- 
horse  carriage  this  morning  for  Coniston  Waters,  in 
order  to  ascend  the  '  Old  Man/  The  waiter  at  the 
'  Salutation '  at  Ambleside,  which  we  made  head- 
quarters, told  me  that  I  could  not  make  the  ascent,  as 
the  day  would  not  be  fine ;  but  I  have  not  travelled  six 
months  for  nothing,  and  I  knew  he  was  saying,  '  You 
are  fine  American  geese ;  you  are  not  to  leave  my  house 
until  you  have  been  well  plucked  !  '  —  which  threat  he  will 
of  course  keep,  but  I  shall  see  all  the  '  Old  Men  '  that  I 
choose.  So  I  borrowed  the  waiter's  umbrella,  when  he 
said  it  would  rain,  and  off  we  went  in  an  open  carriage, 
a  drive  of  seven  miles,  up  hill  and  down  dale,  among 
mountains  and  around  ponds  (lakes  they  called  them), 
in  the  midst  of  rich  lands  and  pretty  mansions,  with 
occasionally  a  castle,  and  once  a  ruin,  to  diversify  the 
scenery. 

"  Arrived  at  Coniston  Hotel,  the  waiter  said  the 
same  thing :  '  It's  too  cloudy  to  ascend  the  "  Old  Man  ;"  ' 
but  as  soon  as  it  was  found  that  if  it  was  too  cloudy  we 
did  not  intend  to  stay,  it  cleared  off  amazingly  fast,  and 
the  ponies  were  ordered.  I  thought  at  first  of  walking 
up,  but,  having  a  value  for  my  feet  and  not  liking  to 
misuse  them,  I  mounted  a  pony  and  walked  him. 

"  He  was  beautifully  stupid,  but  I  could  not   help 


FIRST   EUROPEAN    TOUR  123 

thinking  of  Henry  Colman,  the  agriculturist,  who,  when 
in  England,  went  on  a  fox-hunt.  He  said,  '  Think  of 
my  poor  wife's  old  husband  leaping  a  fence  !  ' 

"  But  I  soon  forgot  any  fear,  for  the  pony  needed  noth- 
ing from  me  or  the  guide,  but  scrambled  about  any 
way  he  chose ;  and  the  scenery  was  charming,  for 
although  the  mountains  are  not  very  high,  they  are 
thrown  together  very  beautifully  and  remind  me  of 
those  of  the  Hudson  Highlands.  Then  the  little  lakes 
were  lovely,  and  occasionally  we  came  to  a  tarn  or  pond, 
and  exceedingly  small  waterfalls  were  rushing  about 
everywhere,  without  any  apparent  object  in  view,  but 
evidently  looking  for  something.  And  spite  of  the 
weatherwise  head-waiter  of  the  (  Salutation '  and  of 
him  of  Coniston  Inn,  the  day  was  beautiful.  We  had 
to  give  up  the  ponies  when  we  were  half  a  mile  from 
the  top,  and  clamber  up  ourselves.  The  guide  was 
very  intelligent,  and  pointed  out  the  lakes,  Windermere, 
Coniston ;  and  the  mountains,  Helvellyn,  Skiddaw,  and 
Saddleback;  but  at  one  time  he  spoke  a  name  that  I 
couldn't  understand,  and  forgetting  that  I  was  in  Eng- 
land and  not  in  America,  I  asked  him  to  spell  it.  He 
replied,  '  Theys  call  it  so  always.'  He  did  not  fail,  how- 
ever, to  ask  questions  like  a  Yankee,  if  he  couldn't  spell 
like  one.  'Which  way  be  ye  coming?  '  —  '  From  Amer- 
ica.'—  'Ye'll  be  going  to  Scotland  like?  '  —  'Yes.'  — 
4  Ye'll  be  spending  much  money  before  ye  are  home 
again.' 

"When  we  were  quite  on  top  of  the  mountain  I 
asked  what  the  white  glimmering  was  in  the  distance, 
and  he  said  it  was,  what  I  supposed,  an  arm  of  the  sea. 


124  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  The  shadows  of  the  flying  clouds  were  very  pretty 
falling  on  the  hills  around  us,  and  the  villages  in  the 
valleys  beneath  looked  like  white  dots  on  the  green. 

"  Sunday,  Sept.  20,  1857.  We  have  been  to  see  Miss 
Southey  to-day.  I  sent  the  letter  which  Mrs.  Airy  gave 
me  yesterday,  and  with  it  a  note  saying  that  I  would 
call  to-day  if  convenient. 

*'  Miss  Southey  replied  at  once,  saying  that  she  should 
be  happy  to  see  me.  She  lives  in  a  straggling,  irregular 
cottage,  like  most  of  the  cottages  around  Keswick,  but 
beautifully  situated,  though  far  from  the  lake. 

"  Southey  himself  lived  at  Greta  Hall,  a  much  finer 
place,  for  many  years,  but  he  never  owned  it,  and  the 
gentleman  who  bought  it  will  permit  no  one  to  see  it. 

"  Miss  Southey's  house  is  overgrown  with  climbing 
plants,  has  windows  opening  to  the  ground,  and  is  really 
a  summer  residence,  not  a  good  winter  home. 

"  When  Southey,  in  his  decline,  married  a  second 
wife,  the  family  scattered,  and  this  daughter,  the  only 
unmarried  one,  left  him. 

"  We  were  shown  into  a  pleasant  parlor  comfortably 
furnished,  especially  with  books  and  engravings,  portraits 
of  Southey,  Wordsworth,  and  others. 

"  Miss  Southey  soon  came  down ;  she  is  really  pretty, 
having  the  fresh  English  complexion  and  fair  hair. 
She  seems  to  be  a  very  simple,  pleasant  person  ;  chatty, 
but  not  too  much  so.  She  is  much  engrossed  by  the 
care  of  three  of  her  brother's  children,  an  old  aunt,  and 
a  servant,  who,  having  been  long  in  the  family,  has  be- 
come a  dependant.  Miss  Southey  spoke  at  once  of  the 
Americans  whom  she  had  known,  Ticknor  being  one. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  125 

The  old  aunt  asked  after  a  New  York  lady  who  had 
visited  Southey  at  Greta  Hall,  but  her  niece  reminded 
her  that  it  must  have  been  before  I  was  born ! 

"  Miss  Southey  said  that  her  father  felt  that  he  knew 
as  many  Americans  as  Englishmen,  and  that  she  wanted 
very  much  to  go  to  America.  I  told  her  that  she 
would  be  in  danger  of  being  '  lionized ;  '  she  said,  '  Oh, 
I  should  like  that,  for  of  course  it  is  gratifying  to  know 
how  much  my  father  was  valued  there.' 

"  I  asked  after  the  children,  and  Miss  Southey  said 
that  the  little  boy  had  called  out  to  her,  '  Oh !  Aunt 
Katy,  the  Ameriky  ladies  have  come ! 

"  The  three  children  were  called  in ;  the  boy,  about 
six  years  old,  of  course  wouldn't  speak  to  me. 

"  The  best  portrait  of  Southey  in  his  daughter's  col- 
lection is  a  profile  in  wax — a  style  that  I  have  seen 
several  times  in  England,  and  which  I  think  very  pretty. 

"  We  went  down  to  Lodore,  the  scene  of  the  poem, 
'  How  does  the  Water  come  Down,'  etc.,  and  found  it 
about  as  large  as  the  other  waterfalls  around  here  —  a 
little  dripping  of  water  among  the  stones. 

COLLINGWOOD,    NOV.   14,   1857. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER:  This  is  Sir  John  HerscheFs  place.  I  came 
last  night  just  at  dusk. 

According  to  English  ways,  I  ought  to  have  written  a  note, 
naming  the  hour  at  which  I  should  reach  Etchingham,  which  is 
four  miles  from  Collingwood ;  but  when  I  left  Liverpool  I  went 
directly  on,  and  a  letter  would  have  arrived  at  the  same  time  that 
I  did.  I  stopped  in  London  one  night  only,  changed  my  lodging- 
house,  that  I  might  pay  a  pound  a  week  only  for  letting  my  trunk 
live  in  a  room,  instead  of  two  pounds,  and  started  off  again. 

I  reached  Etchingham  at  ten  minutes  past  four,  took  a  cab,  and 


126  MARIA    MITCHELL 

set  off  for  Sir  John's.  It  is  a  large  brick  house,  no  way  handsome, 
but  surrounded  by  fine  grounds,  with  beautiful  trees  and  a  very 
large  pond. 

The  family  were  at  dinner,  and  I  was  shown  into  the  drawing- 
room. 

There  was  just  the  light  of  a  coal  fire,  and  as  I  stood  before  it 
Sir  John  bustled  in,  an  old  man,  much  bent,  with  perfectly  white 
hair  standing  out  every  way.  He  reached  both  hands  to  me,  and 
said,  "  We  had  no  letter  and  so  did  not  expect  you,  but  you  are 
always  welcome  in  this  house."  Lady  Herschel  followed  —  very 
noble  looking  ;  she  does  not  look  as  old  as  I,  but  of  course  must 
be ;  but  English  women,  especially  of  her  station,  do  not  wear  out 
as  we  do,  who  are  ««  Jacks  at  all  trades." 

I  found  a  fire  in  my  room,  and  a  cup  of  tea  and  crackers  were 
immediately  sent  up. 

The  Herschels  have  several  children ;  I  have  not  seen  Caroline, 
Louise,  William,  and  Alexander,  but  Belle,  and  Amelie,  and  Marie, 
and  Julie,  and  Rosa,  and  Francesca,  and  Constance,  and  John  are  at 
home  ! 

The  children  are  not  handsome,  but  are  good-looking,  and  well 
brought  up  of  course,  and  highly  educated.  The  children  all 
come  to  table,  which  is  not  common  in  England.  Think  what  a 
table  they  must  set  when  the  whole  twelve  are  at  home  ! 

The  first  object  that  struck  me  in  the  house  was  Borden's  map 
of  Massachusetts,  -hanging  in  the  hall  opposite  the  entrance. 
Over  the  mantelpiece  in  the  dining-room  is  a  portrait  of  Sir 
William  Herschel.  In  the  parlor  is  a  portrait  of  Caroline  Herschel, 
and  busts  of  Sir  William,  Sir  John,  and  the  eldest  daughter. 

I  spent  the  evening  in  looking  at  engravings,  sipping  tea,  and 
talking.  Sir  John  is  like  the  elder  Mr.  Bond,  except  that  he  talks 
more  readily ;  but  he  is  womanly  in  his  nature,  not  a  tyrant  like 
Whewell.  Sir  John  is  a  better  listener  than  any  man  I  have  met 
in  England.  He  joins  in  all  the  chit-chat,  is  one  of  the  domestic 
circle,  and  tells  funny  little  anecdotes.  (So  do  Whewell  and 
Airy.) 

The  Herschels  know  Abbot  Lawrence  and  Edward  Everett  — 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  I2/ 

and  everywhere    these  two  have  left  a  good    impression.     But  I 
am  certainly  mortified   by  anecdotes    that    I    hear  of  ' '  pushing " 

Americans.     Mrs.  sought  an  introduction  to  Sir  John  Her- 

schel  to  tell  him  about  an  abridgment  of  his  Astronomy  which 
she  had  made,  and  she  intimated  to  him  that  in  consequence  of 
-her  abridgment  his  work  was,  or  would  be,  much  more  widely 
known  in  America.  Lady  Herschel  told  me  of  it,  and  she  remarked, 
"  I  believe  Sir  John  was  not  much  pleased,  for  he  does  not 
like  abridgments."  I  told  her  that  I  had  never  heard  of  the 
abridgment. 

There  are  other  guests  in  the  house  :  a  lady  whose  sister  was 
among  those  killed  in  India ;  and  her  husband,  who  is  an  officer  in 
the  army.  We  have  all  been  playing  at  "  Spelling  "  this  evening, 
with  the  letters,  as  we  did  at  home  last  winter. 

Sunday,  I5th.  I  thought  of  going  to  London  to-day,  but  was 
easily  persuaded  to  stay  and  go  with  Lady  Herschel  to-morrow. 
All  this  afternoon  I  have  spent  listening  to  Sir  John,  who  has 
shown  me  his  father's  manuscript,  his  aunt's,  beautifully  neat,  and 
he  told  me  about  his  Cape  observations. 

The  telescope  used  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  lies  in  the  barn 
(the  glass,  of  course,  taken  care  of)  unused ;  and  Sir  John  now 
occupies  himself  with  writing  only.  He  made  many  drawings  at 
the  Cape,  which  he  showed  me,  and  very  good  ones  they  are. 
Lady  Herschel  offers  me  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Somerville,  who  is  god- 
mother to  one  of  her  children.  I  am  afraid  I  shall  have  no  letter 
to  Leverrier,  for  every  one  seems  to  dislike  him.  Lady  Herschel 
says  he  is  one  of  the  few  persons  whom  she  ever  asked  for  an 
autograph  ;  he  was  her  guest,  and  he  refused  ! 

Just  as  I  was  coming  away,  Sir  John  bustled  up  to  me  with  a 
sheet  of  paper,  saying  that  he  thought  I  would  like  some  of  his 
aunt's  handwriting  and  he  would  give  it  to  me.  He  had  before 
given  me  one  of  his  own  calculations ;  he  says  if  there  were  no 
«'  war,  pestilence,  or  famine,"  and  one  pair  of  human  beings  had 
been  put  upon  the  globe  at  the  time  of  Cheops,  they  would  not 
only  now  fill  the  earth,  but  if  they  stood  upon  each  other's  heads, 
they  would  reach  a  hundred  times  the  distance  to  Neptune  ! 


128  MARIA    MITCHELL 

I  turned  over  their  scrap-books,  and  Sir  John's  poetry  is  much 
better  than  many  of  the  specimens  they  had  carefully  kept,  by  Sir 
William  Hamilton.  Sir  William  Hamilton's  sister  had  some 
specimens  in  the  book,  and  also  Lady  Herschel  and  her  brother. 

Lady  Herschel  is  the  head  of  the  house  —  so  is  Mrs.  Airy  —  so, 
I  suspect,  is  the  wife  in  all  well-ordered  households !  I  per- 
ceived that  Sir  John  did  not  take  a  cup  of  tea  until  his  wife  said, 
**  You  can  have  some,  my  dear." 

Mr.  Airy  waits  and  waits,  and  then  says,  "  My  dear,  I  shall  lose 
all  my  flesh  if  I  don't  have  something  to  eat  and  drink." 

I  am  hoping  to  get  to  Paris  next  week,  about  the  23d.  I  have 
had  just  what  I  wanted  in  England,  as  to  society. 

"  November  26.  A  few  days  ago  I  received  a  card, 
'  Mrs.  Baden  Powell,  at  home  November  25.'  Of  course 
I  did  not  know  if  it  was  a  tea  party  or  a  wedding  recep- 
tion. So  I  appealed  to  Mrs.  Airy.  She  said,  '  It  is  a 
London  rout.  I  never  went  to  one,  but  you'll  find  a 
crowd  and  a  good  many  interesting  people.' 

"  I  took  a  cab,  and  went  at  nine  o'clock.  The  servant 
who  opened  the  door  passed  me  to  another  who  showed 
me  the  cloak-room.  The  girl  who  took  my  shawl  num- 
bered it  and  gave  me  a  ticket,  as  they  would  at  a  public 
exhibition.  Then  she  pointed  to  the  other  end  of  the 
room,  and  there  I  saw  a  table  with  tea  and  coffee.  I 
took  a  cup  of  coffee,  and  then  the  servant  asked  my 
name, yelled  it  up  the  stairs  to  another,  and  he  announced 
it  at  the  drawing-room  door  just  as  I  entered. 

"  Mrs.  Powell  and  the  professor  were  of  course  stand- 
ing near,  and  Mrs.  Admiral  Smyth  just  behind.  To 
my  delight,  I  met  four  English  persons  whom  I  knew, 
and  also  Prof.  Henry  B.  Rogers,  who  is  a  great  society 
man. 


FIRST   EUROPEAN    TOUR  129 

"  People  kept  coming  until  the  room  was  quite  full. 
I  was  very  glad  to  be  introduced  to  Professor  Stokes, 
who  is  called  the  best  mathematician  in  England,  and  is 
a  friend  of  Adams.  He  is  very  handsome  —  almost  all 
Englishmen  are  handsome,  because  they  look  healthy; 
but  Professor  Stokes  has  fine  black  eyes  and  dark  hair 
and  good  features.  He  looks  very  young  and  innocent. 
Stokes  is  connected  with  Cambridge,  but  lives  in 
London,  just  as  Professor  Powell  is  connected  with 
Oxford,  but  also  lives  in  London.  Several  gentlemen 
spoke  to  me  without  a  special  introduction  —  one  told 
me  his  name  was  Dr.  Townby  [Qy.,  Toynbie],  and  he 
was  a  great  admirer  of  Emerson  —  the  first  case  of  the 
sort  I  have  met. 

"  Dr.  Townby  is  a  young  man  not  over  thirty,  full  of 
enthusiasm  and  progress,  like  an  American.  He  really 
seemed  to  me  all  alive,  and  is  either  a  genius  or  crazy  — 
the  shade  between  is  so  delicate  that  I  can't  always  tell 
to  which  a  person  belongs  !  I  asked  him  if  Babbage 
was  in  the  room,  and  he  said,  '  Not  yet/  so  I  hoped  he 
would  come. 

"He  told  me  that  a  fine-looking,  white-headed,  good- 
featured  old  man  was  Roget,  of  the  '  Thesaurus ;  '  and 
another  old  man  in  the  corner  was  Dr.  Arnott,  of  the 
'  Elements  of  Physics.'  I  had  supposed  he  was  dead 
long  ago.  Afterwards  I  was  introduced  to  him.  He 
is  an  old  man,  but  not  much  over  sixty;  his  hair  is 
white,  but  he  is  full  of  vigor,  short  and  stout,  like 
almost  all  Englishmen  and  Englishwomen.  I  have  met 
only  two  women  taller  than  myself,  and  most  of  them 
are  very  much  shorter.  Dr.  Arnott  told  me  he  was 


130  MARIA    MITCHELL 

only  now  finishing  the  'Elements,'  which  he  first  pub- 
lished in  1827.  He  intends  now  to  publish  the  more 
mathematical  portions  with  the  other  volumes.  He  was 
very  sociable,  and  I  told  him  he  had  twenty  years  ago  a 
great  many  readers  in  America.  He  said  he  supposed 
he  had  more  there  than  in  England,  and  that  he  believed 
he  had  made  young  men  study  science  in  many  instances. 

"  I  asked  him  if  Babbage  was  in  the  room,  and  he  too 
said,  '  Not  yet.'  Dr.  Arnott  asked  me  if  I  wore  as  many 
stockings  when  I  was  observing  as  the  Herschels  —  he 
said  Sir  William  put  on  twelve  pairs  and  Caroline  four- 
teen ! 

"  I  stayed  until  eleven  o'clock,  then  I  said  '  Good- 
by/  and  just  as  I  stepped  upon  the  threshold  of  the 
drawing-room  to  go  out,  a  broad  old  man  stepped 
upon  it,  and  the  servant  announced  '  Mr.  Babbage,'  and 
of  course  that  glimpse  was  all  I  shall  ever  have! 

"  Edinboro',  September  30.  The  people  of  Edinboro', 
having  a  passion  for  Grecian  architecture,  and  being 
very  proud  of  the  Athenian  character  of  their  city, 
seek  to  increase  the  resemblance  by  imitations  of 
ancient  buildings. 

"  Grecian  pillars  are  seen  on  Calton  Hill  in  great 
numbers,  and  the  observatory  would  delight  an  old 
Greek ;  its  four  fronts  are  adorned  by  Grecian  pillars, 
and  it  is  indeed  beautiful  as  a  structure ;  but  the  Greeks 
did  not  build  their  temples  for  astronomical  observa- 
tions ;  they  probably  adapted  their  architecture  to  their 
needs. 

"  This  beautiful  building  was  erected  by  an  associa- 
tion of  gentlemen,  who  raised  a  good  deal  of  money, 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  131 

but,  of  course,  not  enough.  They  built  the  Grecian 
temple,  but  they  could  not  supply  it  with  priests. 

"  About  a  hundred  years  ago  Colin  Maclaurin  had 
laid  the  foundation  of  an  observatory,  and  the  curious 
Gothic  building,  which  still  stands,  is  the  first  germ. 
We  laugh  now  at  the  narrow  ideas  of  those  days,  which 
seemed  to  consider  an  observatory  a  lookout  only;  but 
the  first  step  in  a  work  is  a  great  step  —  the  others  are 
easily  taken.  There  was  added  to  the  building  of  Mac- 
laurin a  very  small  transit  room,  and  then  the  present 
edifice  followed. 

"  When  the  builders  of  the  observatory  found  that 
they  could  not  support  it,  they  presented  it  to  the  British 
government;  so  that  it  is  now  a  government  child,  but 
it  is  not  petted,  like  the  first-born  of  Greenwich. 

"  There  are  three  instruments  ;  an  excellent  transit  in- 
strument of  six  and  a  half  inches'  aperture,  resting  on  its 
y's  of  solid  granite.  The  corrections  of  the  errors  of 
the  instrument  by  means  of  little  screws  are  given  up, 
and  the  errors  which  are  known  to  exist  are  corrected 
in  the  computations. 

"  Professor  Smyth  finds  that  although  the  two  pillars 
upon  which  the  instrument  rests  were  cut  from  the 
same  quarry,  they  are  unequally  affected  by  changes  of 
temperature  ;  so  that  the  variation  of  the  azimuth  error, 
though  slight,  is  irregular. 

"The  collimation  plate  they  correct  with  the  microm- 
eter, so  that  they  consider  some  position-reading  of 
the  micrometer-head  the  zero  point,  and  correct  that 
for  the  error,  which  they  determine  by  reflection  in  a 
trough  of  mercury.  With  this  instrument  they  observe 


132  MARIA    MITCHELL 

on  certain  stars  of  the  British  Catalogue,  whose  places 
are  not  very  well  determined,  and  with  a  mural  circle  of 
smaller  power  they  determine  declinations. 

"  The  observatory  possesses  an  equatorial  telescope, 
but  it  is  of  mixed  composition.  The  object  glass  was 
given  by  Dr.  Lee,  the  eye-pieces  by  some  one  else, 
and  the  two  are  put  together  in  a  case,  and  used  by 
Professor  Smyth  for  looking  at  the  craters  in  the  moon ; 
of  these  he  has  made  fine  drawings,  and  has  published 
them  in  color  prints. 

"  The  whole  staff  of  the  observatory  consists  of  Pro- 
fessor Smyth,  Mr.  Wallace,  an  old  man,  and  Mr.  Will- 
iamson, a  young  man. 

"  The  city  of  Edinboro'  has  no  amateur  astron- 
omers, and  there  are  two  only,  of  note,  in  Scotland :  Sir 
William  Bisbane  and  Sir  William  Keith  Murray. 

u  From  the  observatory,  the  view  of  Edinboro'  is 
lovely.  '  Auld  Reekie/  as  the  Scotch  call  it,  always 
looks  her  best  through  a  mist,  and  a  Scotch  mist  is  not 
a  rare  event  —  so  we  saw  the  city  under  its  most  be- 
coming veil. 

"  October,  1857.  I  stopped  in  Glasgow  a  few  hours, 
and  went  to  the  observatory,  which  is  also  the  private 
residence  of  Professor  Nichol.  Miss  Nichol  received 
me,  and  was  a  very  pleasant,  blue-eyed  young  lady. 

"I  found  that  the  observatory  boasts  of  two  good  in- 
struments :  a  meridian  circle,  which  must  be  good,  from 
its  appearance,  and  a  Newtonian  telescope,  differently 
mounted  from  any  I  had  seen ;  cased  in  a  composition 
tube  which  is  painted  bright  blue  —  rather  a  striking 
object.  The  iron  mounting  seemed  to  me  good.  It 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  133 

was  of  the  German  kind,  but  modified.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  it  could  be  used  for  observations  far  from  the 
meridian.  The  iron  part  was  hollow,  so  that  the  clock 
was  inside,  as  was  the  azimuth  circle,  and  thus  space 
was  saved. 

"  They  have  a  wind  and  rain  self-register,  and  a  self- 
registering  barometer,  marking  on  a  cylinder  turned  by 
a  clock,  the  paper  revolving  once  an  hour. 

"  When  I  was  at  Dungeon  Ghyll,  a  little  ravine  among 
the  English  lakes,  down  which  trickles  an  exceedingly 
small  stream  of  water,  but  which  is,  nevertheless,  very 
picturesque,  —  as  I  followed  the  old  man  who  shows  it 
for  a  sixpence,  he  asked  if  we  had  come  a  long  way. 
'From  America,'  I  replied.  'We  have  many  Americans 
here/  said  he ;  'it  is  much  easier  to  understand  their 
language  than  that  of  other  foreigners;  they  speak  very 
good  English,  better  than  the  French  or  Germans.' 

"  I  felt  myself  a  little  annoyed  and  a  good  deal 
amused.  I  supposed  that  I  spoke  the  language  that 
Addison  wrote,  and  here  was  a  Westmoreland  guide, 
speaking  a  dialect  which  I  translated  into  English 
before  I  could  understand  it,  complimenting  me  upon 
my  ability  to  speak  my  own  tongue. 

"  I  learned  afterwards,  as  I  journeyed  on,  to  expect  no 
appreciation  of  my  country  or  its  people.  The  English 
are  strangely  deficient  in  curiosity.  I  can  scarcely 
imagine  an  Englishwoman  a  gossip. 

"  I  found  among  all  classes  a  knowledge  of  the  extent 
of  America;  by  the  better  classes  its  geography  was 
understood,  and  its  physical  peculiarities.  One  astron- 
omer had  bound  the  scientific  papers  from  America  in 


134  MARIA    MITCHELL 

green  morocco,  as  typical  of  a  country  covered  by 
forests.  Among  the  most  intelligent  men  whom  I  met 
I  found  an  appreciation  of  the  different  characters  of 
the  States.  Everywhere  Massachusetts  was  honored ; 
everywhere  I  met  the  horror  of  the  honest  Englishman 
at  the  slave  system ;  but  anything  like  a  discriminating 
knowledge  of  our  public  men  I  could  not  meet.  Web- 
ster had  been  heard  of  everywhere.  They  assured  me 
that  our  really  great  men  were  known,  our  really  great 
deeds  appreciated ;  but  this  is  not  true.  They  make 
mistakes  in  their  measure  of  our  men ;  second-rate  men 
who  have  travelled  are  of  course  known  to  the  men 
whom  they  have  met ;  these  travellers  have  not  perhaps 
thought  it  necessary  to  mention  that  they  represent 
a  secondary  class  of  people,  and  they  are  considered 
our  '  first  men.'  The  English  forget  that  all  Americans 
travel. 

"  I  was  vexed  when  I  saw  some  of  our  most  miserable 
novels,  bound  in  showy  yellow  and  red,  exposed  for 
sale.  A  friend  told  me  that  they  had  copied  from  the 
cheap  publications  of  America.  It  may  be  so,  but  they 
have  outdone  us  in  the  cheapness  of  the  material  and 
the  showy  covers.  I  never  saw  yellow  and  red  together 
on  any  American  book. 

"  The  English  are  far  beyond  us  in  their  highest 
scholarship,  but  why  should  they  be  ignorant  of  our 
scholars?  The  Englishman  is  proud,  and  not  without 
reason ;  but  he  may  well  be  proud  of  the  American  off- 
shoot. It  is  not  strange  that  England  produces  fine 
scholars,  when  we  consider  that  her  colleges  confer  fel- 
lowships on  the  best  undergraduates. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN    TOUR  135 

"  England  differs  from  America  in  the  fact  that  it  has 
a  past.  Well  may  the  great  men  of  the  present  be 
proud  of  those  who  have  gone  before  them ;  it  is 
scarcely  to  be  hoped  that  the  like  can  come  after  them ; 
and  yet  I  suppose  we  must  admit  that  even  now  the 
strong  minds  are  born  across  the  water. 

"  At  the  same  time  England  has  a  class  to  which  we 
have  happily  no  parallel  in  our  country  —  a  class  to 
which  even  English  gentlemen  liken  the  Sepoys,  and 
who  would,  they  admit,  under  like  circumstances  be 
guilty  of  like  enormities.  But  the  true  Englishman 
shuts  his  eyes  for  a  great  part  of  the  time  to  the  steps 
in  the  social  scale  down  which  his  race  descends,  and 
looks  only  at  the  upper  walks.  He  has  therefore  a 
glance  of  patronizing  kindness  for  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  and  regards  us  of  New  England  as  we 
regard  our  rich  brethren  of  the  West. 

"  I  wondered  what  was  to  become  of  the  English 
people  !  Their  island  is  already  crowded  with  people, 
the  large  towns  are  numerous  and  are  very  large. 
Suppose  for  an  instant  that  her  commerce  is  cut  off, 
will  they  starve?  It  is  an  illustration  of  moral  power 
that,  little  island  as  that  of  Great  Britain  is,  its  power  is 
the  great  power  of  the  world. 

"  Crowded  as  the  people  are,  they  are  healthy.  I 
never  saw,  I  thought,  so*  many  ruddy  faces  as  met  me 
at  once  in  Liverpool.  Dirty  children  in  the  street  have 
red  cheeks  and  good  teeth.  Nowhere  did  I  see  little 
children  whose  minds  had  outgrown  their  bodies. 
They  do  not  live  in  the  school-room,  but  in  the  streets. 
One  continually  meets  little  children  carrying  smaller 


136  MARIA    MITCHELL 

ones  in  their  arms ;  little  girls  hand  in  hand  walk  the 
streets  of  London  all  day.  There  are  no  free  schools, 
and  they  have  nothing  to  do.  Beggars  are  everywhere, 
and  as  importunate  as  in  Italy.  For  a  well-behaved 
common  people  I  should  go  to  Paris ;  for  clean  work- 
ing-women I  should  look  in  Paris. 

"  I  saw  a  little  boy  in  England  tormenting  a  smaller 
one.  He  spat  upon  his  cap,  and  then  declared  that 
the  little  one  did  it.  The  little  one  sobbed  and  said  he 
didn't.  I  gave  the  little  one  a  penny ;  he  evidently  did 
not  know  the  value  of  the  coin,  and  appealed  to  the 
bigger  boy.  '  Is  it  a  penny?'  he  asked,  with  a  look  of 
amazement.  'Yes,'  said  the  bigger.  Off  ran  the 
smaller  one  triumphant,  and  the  bigger  began  to  cry, 
which  I  permitted  him  to  do." 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  137 


CHAPTER  VII 

1857-1858 

FIRST   EUROPEAN   TOUR    CONTINUED LEVERRIER    AND     THE    PARIS 

OBSERVATORY ROME HARRIET   HOSMER OBSERVATORY    OF 

THE   COLLEGIO   ROMANO — SECCHI 

AT  this  time,  the  feeling  between  astronomers  of 
Great  Britain  and  those  of  the  United  States  was  not 
very  cordial.  It  was  the  time  when  Adams  and 
Leverrier  were  contending  to  which  of  them  belonged 
the  honor  of  the  discovery  of  the  planet  Neptune,  and 
each  side  had  its  strong  partisans. 

Among  Miss  Mitchell's  papers  we  find  the  following 
with  reference  to  this  subject : 

".  .  .  Adams,  a  graduate  of  Cambridge,  made  the 
calculations  which  showed  how  an  unseen  body  must 
exist  whose  influences  were  felt  by  Uranus.  It  was  a 
problem  of  great  difficulty,  for  he  had  some  half-dozen 
quantities  touching  Uranus  which  were  not  accurately 
known,  and  as  many  wholly  unknown  concerning  the 
unseen  planet.  We  think  it  a  difficult  question  which 
involves  three  or  four  unknown  quantities  with  too  few 
circumstances,  but  this  problem  involved  twelve  or 
thirteen,  so  that  x,  y,  z  reached  pretty  high  up  into  the 
alphabet.  But  Adams,  having  worked  the  problem, 
carried  his  work  to  Airy,  the  Astronomer  Royal  of 
England,  and  awaited  his  comments.  A  little  later 


138  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Leverrier,  the  French  astronomer,  completed  the  same 
problem,  and  waiting  for  no  authority  beyond  his  own, 
flung  his  discovery  out  to  the  world  with  the  self-con- 
fidence of  a  Frenchman.  .  .  . 

"  .  .  .  When  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  Neptune 
reached  this  country,  I  happened  to  be  visiting  at  the 
observatory  in  Cambridge,  Mass.  Professor  Bond  (the 
elder)  had  looked  for  the  planet  the  night  before  I 
arrived  at  his  house,  and  he  looked  again  the  evening 
that  I  came. 

"  His  observatory  was  then  a  small,  round  building, 
and  in  it  was  a  small  telescope ;  he  had  drawn  a  map  of 
a  group  of  stars,  one  of  which  he  supposed  was  not  a 
star,  but  the  planet.  He  set  the  telescope  to  this  group, 
and  asking  his  son  to  count  the  seconds,  he  allowed  the 
stars  to  pass  by  the  motion  of  the  earth  across  the 
field.  If  they  kept  the  relative  distance  of  the  night 
before,  they  were  all  stars ;  if  any  one  had  approached 
or  receded  from  the  others,  it  was  a  planet ;  and  when 
the  father  looked  at  his  son's  record  he  said,  '  One  of 
those  has  moved,  and  it  is  the  one  which  I  thought  last 
night  was  the  planet.'  He  looked  again  at  the  group, 
and  the  son  said,  4  Father,  do  give  me  a  look  at  the  new 
planet  —  you  are  the  only  man  in  America  that  can  do 
it !  '  And  then  we  both  looked ;  it  looked  precisely 
like  a  small  star,  and  George  and  I  both  asked,  '  What 
made  you  think  last  night  that  it  was  the  new  planet?  ' 
Mr.  Bond  could  only  say,  '  I  don't  know,  it  looked  dif- 
ferent from  the  others.' 

"  It  is  always  so  —  you  cannot  get  a  man  of  genius 
to  explain  steps,  he  leaps. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  139 

"  After  the  discovery  of  this  planet,  Professor  Peirce, 
in  our  own  country,  declared  that  it  was  not  the  planet 
of  the  theory,  and  therefore  its  discovery  was  a  happy 
accident.  But  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  was  the  planet  of 
the  theory,  just  as  much  if  it  varied  a  good  deal  from 
its  prescribed  place  as  if  it  varied  a  little.  So  you  might 
have  said  that  Uranus  was  not  the  Uranus  of  the  theory. 

"  Sir  John  Herschel  said,  '  Its  movements  have  been 
felt  trembling  along  the  far-reaching  line  of  our  analy- 
sis, with  a  certainty  hardly  inferior  to  ocular  demonstra- 
tion.' I  consider  it  was  superior  to  ocular  demonstration, 
as  the  action  of  the  mind  is  above  that  of  the  senses, 
Adams,  in  his  study  at  Cambridge,  England,  and  Lever- 
rier  in  his  closet  at  Paris,  poring  over  their  loga- 
rithms, knew  better  the  locus  of  that  outside  planet 
than  all  the  practical  astronomers  of  the  world  put  to- 
gether. .  .  . 

"  Of  course  in  Paris  I  went  to  the  Imperial  Observa- 
tory, to  visit  Leverrier.  I  carried  letters  from  Professor 
Airy,  who  also  sent  a  letter  in  advance  by  post.  Lever- 
rier called  at  my  hotel,  and  left  cards  ;  then  came  a  note, 
and  I  went  to  tea. 

"  Leverrier  had  succeeded  Arago.  Arago  had  been  a 
member  of  the  Provisional  Government,  and  had  died. 
Leverrier  took  exactly  opposite  ground,  politically,  to 
that  of  Arago  ;  he  stood  high  with  the  emperor. 

"He  took  me  all  over  the  observatory.  He  had  a 
large  room  for  a  ballroom,  because  in  the  ballroom  sci- 
ence and  politics  were  discussed ;  for  where  a  press  is 
not  free,  salons  must  give  the  tone  to  public  opinion. 

"  Both  Leverrier  and    Madame    Leverrier  said  hard 


140  MARIA    MITCHELL 

things  about  the    English,  and  the  English  said  hard 
things  about  Leverrier. 

"  The  Astronomical  Observatory  of  Paris  was  founded 
on  the  establishment  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  in 
the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  The  building  was  begun  in 
1667  and  finished  in  1672;  like  other  observatories  of 
that  time,  it  was  quite  unfit  for  use. 

"  John  Dominie  Cassini  came  to  it  before  it  was 
finished,  saw  its  defects,  and  made  alterations ;  but  the 
whole  building  was  afterwards  abandoned.  M.  Lever- 
rier showed  me  the  transit  instrument  and  the  mural 
circle.  He  has,  like  Mr.  Airy,  made  the  transit  instru- 
ment incapable  of  mechanical  change  for  its  corrections 
of  error,  so  that  it  depends  for  accuracy  upon  its  faults 
being  known  and  corrected  in  the  computations. 

"  All  the  early  observatories  of  Europe  seem  to  have 
been  built  as  temples  to  Urania,  and  not  as  working- 
chambers  of  science.  The  Royal  Observatory  at 
Greenwich,  the  Imperial  Observatory  of  Paris,  and  the 
beautiful  structure  on  Calton  Hill,  Edinboro',  were  at 
first  wholly  useless  as  observatories.  That  of  Green- 
wich had  no  steadiness,  while  every  pillar  in  the  astro- 
nomical temple  of  Edinboro',  though  it  may  tell  of  the 
enlightenment  of  Greece,  hides  the  light  of  the  stars 
from  the  Scottish  observer.  Well  might  Struve  say  that 
'  An  observatory  should  be  simply  a  box  to  hold  instru- 
ments.' 

"  The  Leverriers  speak  English  about  as  well  as  I  do 
French,  and  we  had  a  very  awkward  time  of  it.  M.  Lever- 
rier talked  with  me  a  little,  and  then  talked  wholly  to  one 
of  the  gentlemen  present.  Madame  was  very  chatty. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  141 

"  Leverrier  is  very  fine-looking;  he  is  fair-haired 
full-faced,  altogether  very  healthy-looking.  His  wife 
is  really  handsome,  the  children  beautiful.  I  was  glad 
that  I  could  understand  when  Leverrier  said  to  the 
children,  '  If  you  make  any  more  noise  you  go  to  bed.' 

"  While  I  ^vas  there,  a  woman  as  old  as  I  rushed  in", 
in  bonnet  and  shawl,  and  flew  around  the  room,  kissed 
madame,  jumped  the  children  about,  and  shook  hands 
with  monsieur;  and  there  was  a  great  amount  of 
screaming  and  laughing,  and  all  talked  at  once.  As  I 
could  not  understand  a  word,  it  seemed  to  me  like  a 
theatre. 

"  I  asked  monsieur  when  I  could  see  the  observatory, 
and  he  answered,  *  Whenever  it  suits  your  conven- 
ience.' 

"December  15.  I  went  to  Leverrier's  again  last 
evening  by  special  invitation.  Four  gentlemen  and 
three  ladies  received  me,  all  standing  and  bowing  with- 
out speaking.  Monsieur  was,  however,  more  sociable 
than  before,  and  shrieked  out  to  me  in  French  as 
though  I  were  deaf. 

"  The  ladies  were  in  blue  dresses ;  a  good  deal  of 
crinoline,  deep  flounces,  high  necks,  very  short,  flowing 
sleeves,  and  short  undersleeves ;  the  dresses  were  bro- 
cade and  the  flounces  much  trimmed,  madame's  with 
white  plush. 

"  The  room  was  cold,  of  course,  having  no  carpet, 
and  a  wood  fire  in  a  very  small  fireplace. 

"  The  gentlemen  continued  standing  or  promenading, 
and  taking  snuff. 

"  Except  Leverrier,  no  one  of  them  spoke  to  me.   The 


142  MARIA    MITCHELL 

ladies  all  did,  and  all  spoke  French.  The  two  children 
were  present  again  —  the  little  girl  five  years  old  played 
on  the  piano,  and  the  boy  of  nine  played  and  sang  like 
a  public  performer.  He  promenaded  about  the  room 
with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  like  a  man.  I  think  his 

manners  were  about  equal  to 's,  as  occasionally  he 

yelled  and  was  told  *  to  be  quiet. 

"  About  ten  o'clock  M.  Leverrier  asked  me  to  go  into 
the  observatory,  which  connects  with  the  dwelling. 
They  are  building  immense  additional  rooms,  and  are 
having  a  great  telescope,  twenty-seven  feet  in  focal 
length,  constructed. 

"  With  Leverrier's  bad  English  and  my  bad  French 
we  talked  but  little,  but  he  showed  me  the  transit 
instrument,  the  mural  circle,  the  computing-room,  and 
the  private  office.  He  put  on  his  cloak  and  cap,  and 
said,  '  Voila  le  directeur  !  ' 

"  One  room,  he  told  me,  had  been  Arago's,  and 
Arago  had  his  bed  on  one  side.  M.  Leverrier  said,  '  I 
do  not  wish  to  have  it  for  my  room/  He  is  said  to  be 
much  opposed  to  Arago,  and  to  be  merciless  towards 
his  family. 

"  He  showed  me  another  room,  intended  for  a  recep- 
tion-room, and  explained  to  me  that  in  France  one  had 
to  make  science  come  into  social  life,  for  the  govern- 
ment must  be  reached  in  order  to  get  money. 

"  There  were  huge  globes  in  one  room  that  belonged 
to  Cassini.  If  what  he  showed  me  is  not  surpassed  in 
the  other  rooms,  I  don't  think  much  of  their  instruments. 

"  M.  Leverrier  said  he  had  asked  M.  Chacornac 
to  meet  me,  but  he  was  not  there.  I  felt  that  we  got 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  143 

on  a  little  better,  but  not  much,  and  it  was  evident  that 
he  did  not  expect  me  to  understand  an  observatory. 
We  did  not  ascend  to  the  domes. 

"  Leverrier  has  telegraphic  communication  with  all 
Europe  except  Great  Britain. 

"  It  was  quite  singular  that  they  made  such  different 
remarks  to  me.  Leverrier  said  that  they  had  to  make 
science  popular. 

"  Airy  said,  '  In  England  there  is  no  astronomical 
public,  and  we  do  not  need  to  make  science  popular.' 

"Jan.  24,  1858.  lam  in  Rome!  I  have  been  here 
four  days,  and  already  I  feel  that  I  would  rather  have 
that  four  days  in  Rome  than  all  the  other  days  of  my 
travels !  I  have  been  uncomfortable,  cold,  tired,  and 
subjected  to  all  the  evils  of  travelling;  but  for  all  that, 
I  would  not  have  missed  the  sort  of  realization  that  I 
have  of  the  existence  of  the  past  of  great  glory,  if  I 
must  have  a  thousand  times  the  discomfort.  I  went 
alone  yesterday  to  St.  Peter's  and  the  Vatican,  and  to- 
day, taking  Murray,  I  went  alone  to  the  Roman  Forum, 
and  stood  beside  the  ruined  porticos  and  the  broken  col- 
umns of  the  Temple.  Then  I  pushed  on  to  the  Coli- 
seum, and  walked  around  its  whole  circumference.  I 
could  scarcely  believe  that  I  really  stood  among  the 
ruins,  and  was  not  dreaming  !  I  really  think  I  had  more 
enjoyment  for  going  alone  and  finding  out  for  myself. 
Afterwards  the  Hawthornes  called,  and  I  took  Mrs.  H. 
to  the  same  spot. 

"  I  really  feel  the  impressiveness  of  Rome.  All 
Europe  has  been  serious  to  me;  Rome  is  even  sad 
in  its  seriousness.  You  cannot  help  feeling,  in  the 


144  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Coliseum,  some  little  of  the  influence  of  the  scenes  that 
have  been  enacted  there,  even  if  you  know  little  about 
them;  you  must  remember  that  the  vast  numbers  of 
people  who  have  been  within  its  walls  for  ages  have 
not  been  common  minds,  whether  they  were  Christian 
martyrs  or  travelling  artists.  .  . 

"  I  think  if  I  had  never  heard  before  of  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  pictures  and  statues  of  the  Vatican,  I  should 
have  perceived  their  superiority.  There  is  more  idea 
of  action  conveyed  by  the  statuary  than  I  ever  received 
before  —  they  do  not  seem  to  be  dead. 

"January  25.  I  have  finer  rooms  than  I  had  in 
Paris,  but  the  letting  of  apartments  is  better  managed 
in  Paris.  There  you  always  find  a  concierge,  who  tells 
you  all  you  want  to  know,  and  who  speaks  several  lan- 
guages. In  Rome  you  enter  a  narrow,  dark  passage, 
and  look  in  vain  for  a  door.  Then  you  go  up  a  flight 
of  stairs,  and  see  a  door  with  a  string;  you  pull  the 
string,  and  a  woman  puts  her  mouth  to  a  square  hole, 
covered  with  tin  punctured  with  holes,  and  asks  what 
you  want.  You  tell  her,  and  she  tells  you  to  go  up 
higher ;  you  repeat  the  process,  and  at  last  reach  the 
rooms.  The  higher  up  the  better,  because  you  get 
some  sun,  and  one  learns  the  value  of  sunlight.  I  saw 
no  sun  in  Paris  in  my  room,  and  here  I  have  it  half  of 
the  day,  and  it  seems  very  pleasant. 

"  All  the  customs  of  the  people  differ  from  those  of 
Paris.  .  .  ... 

"A  little  of  Italian  art  enters  into  the  ornaments  of 
rooms  and  furniture,  '  but  anything  like  mechanical 
skill  seems  to  be  unheard  of;  and  I  dare  say  the  pretty 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   JOUR  145 

stamp  used  on  the  butter  I  have,  which  represents  some 
antique  picture,  was  cut  by  some  northern  hand.  I 
could  make  a  better  cart  than  those  that  I  see  on  the 
streets,  and  I  could  almost  make  as  good  horses  as  those 
that  draw  them !  .  .  .. 

"  It  is  Holy  Week.  I  have  spent  seven  hours  at  a 
time  at  St.  Peter's,  in  terrible  crowds,  for  ten  days,  and 
now  I  go  no  more.  The  ladies  are  seated,  but  as  the 
ceremonies  are  in  different  parts  of  the  immense  build- 
ing, they  rush  wildly  from  one  to  the  other;  with  their 
black  veils  they  look  like  furies  let  loose  !  I  stayed  five 
hours  to-day  to  see  the  Pope  wash  feet,  which  was  very 
silly;  for  I  saw  mother  wash  them  much  more  effectually 
twenty  years  ago ! 

"The  crowd  is  better  worth  seeing  than  the  ceremony, 
if  one  could  only  see  it  without  being  in  it.  I  shall  not 
try  to  hear  the  *  Miserere  '  —  I  have  given  up  the  study 
of  music  !  Since  I  failed  to  appreciate  Mario,  I  sha'n't 
try  any  more ! 

"  I  go  to  the  Storys'  on  Sunday  evening  to  look  at 
St.  Peter's  lighting  up. 

"March  21.  I  have  been  to  vespers  at  St.  Peter's. 
They  begin  an  hour  before  sunset.  When  my  work  is 
done  for  the  day,  I  walk  to  St.  Peter's.  This  is  Sunday, 
and  the  floor  was  full  of  kneeling  worshippers,  but  that 
makes  no  difference.  I  walk  about  among  them. 

"  I  was  there  an  hour  to-day  before  I  saw  a  person 
that  I  knew;  then  I  met  the  Nicholses  and  went  with 
them  into  a  side  chapel  to  hear  vespers.  Then  I  saw 
next  the  Waterstons,  then  Miss  Lander;  but  I  was  un- 
usually short  of  friends,  I  generally  meet  so  many  more. 


146  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  There  were  kneeling  women  to-day  with  babies  in 
their  arms.  The  babies  of  the  lower  classes  have  their 
legs  so  wrapped  up  that  they  cannot  move  them ;  they 
look  like  small  pillows  even  when  they  are  six  months 
old.  I  think  it  must  dwarf  them.  We  Americans  are 
a  tall  people.  I  am  a  very  tall  woman  here.  I  think 
that  P.'s  height  would  cause  a  sensation  in  the  streets. 
My  servant  admires  my  height  very  much. 

"  March  22.  I  called  on  Miss  Bremer  to-day,  hav- 
ing heard  that  she  desired  to  see  me.  She  is  a  '  little 
woman  in  black/  but  not  so  plain ;  her  face  is  a  little 
red,  but  her  complexion  is  fair  and  the  expression  very 
pleasing.  She  chatted  away  a  good  deal ;  asked  me 
about  astronomy,  and  how  I  came  to  study  it.  I  told 
her  that  my  father  put  me  to  it,  and  she  said  she 
was  just  writing  a  story  on  the  affection  of  father  and 
daughter.  She  told  me  I  had  good  eyes.  It  is  a  long 
time  now  since  any  one  has  told  me  th'at !  .  .  . 

"  Miss  Bremer  and  Mrs.  W.  met  in  my  room  and 
remained  an  hour.  Miss  Bremer  is  quiet  and  unpre- 
tending. Mrs.  W.  is  flashy  and  brilliant,  and,  as  I 
usually  say  when  I  don't  understand  a  person,  a  little 
insane ;  she  had  the  floor  all  the  time  after  she  came  in. 
She  gave  a  sketch  of  her  life  from  her  birth  up,  men- 
tioning incidentally  that  she  had  been  a  belle,  sur- 
rounded with  beaux,  the  pride  of  her  parents,  with  a 
reputation  for  intellect,  etc. 

"  I  had  been  urging  Miss  Bremer  into  an  interest- 
ing talk  before  Mrs.  W.  appeared,  and  I  felt  what 
a  pity  it  was  that  she  hadn't  the  same  propensity  to 
talk  that  the  latter  had.  She  talked  very  pleasantly, 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  147 

however,  and  I  thought  what  a  pity  it  was  that  I  shall 
not  see  her  again ;  for  I  leave  Rome  in  three  days 
for  Florence. 

"  I  was  in  Rome  for  a  winter,  an  idler  by  necessity 
for  six  weeks.  It  is  the  very  place  of  all  the  world  for 
an  idler. 

"  On  the  pleasant  days  there  are  the  ruins  to  visit, 
the  Campagna  to  stroll  over,  the  villas  and  their  grounds 
to  gather  flowers  in,  the  Forum  to  muse  in,  the  Pincian 
Hill  or  the  Capitoline  for  a  gossiping  walk  with  some 
friend. 

"  On  rainy  days  it  is  all  art.  There  are  the  cathedrals, 
the  galleries,  and  the  studios  of  the  thousand  artists ; 
for  every  winter  there  are  a  thousand  artists  in  Rome. 

"  A  rainy  day  found  me  in  the  studio  of  Paul  Akers. 
As  I  was  looking  at  some  of  his  models,  the  studio  door 
opened  and  a  pretty  little  girl,  wearing  a  jaunty  hat  and  a 
short  jacket,  into  the  pockets  of  which  her  hands  were 
thrust,  rushed  into  the  room,  seemingly  unconscious  of 
the  presence  of  a  stranger,  began  a  rattling,  all-alive  talk 
with  Mr.  Akers,  of  which  I  caught  enough  to  know  that 
a  ride  over  the  Campagna  was  planned,  as  I  heard  Mr. 
Akers  say,  '  Oh,  I  won't  ride  with  you  —  I'm  afraid  to  !  ' 
after  which  he  turned  to  me  and  introduced  Harriet 
Hosmer. 

"I  was  just  from  old  conservative  England,  and  I  had 
been  among  its  most  conservative  people.  I  had  caught 
something  of  its  old  musty-parchment  ideas,  and  the 
cricket-like  manners  of  Harriet  Hosmer  rather  troubled 
me.  It  took  some  weeks  for  me  to  get  over  the  impres- 
sion of  her  madcap  ways  ;  they  seemed  childish. 


148  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  I  went  to  her  studio  and  saw  '  Puck,'  a  statue  all 
fun  and  frolic,  and  I  imagined  all  was  fun  to  the  core  of 
her  heart. 

"  As  a  general  rule,  people  disappoint  you  as  you 
know  them.  To  know  them  better  aud  better  is  to  know 
more  and  more  weaknesses.  Harriet  Hosmer  parades 
her  weaknesses  with  the  conscious  power  of  one  who 
knows  her  strength,  and  who  knows  you  will  find  her 
out  if  you  are  worthy  of  her  acquaintance.  She  makes 
poor  jokes  — she's  a  little  rude  —  a  good  deal  eccentric ; 
but  she  is  always  true. 

"  In  the  town  where  she  used  to  live  in  Massachusetts 
they  will  tell  you  a  thousand  anecdotes  of  her  vagaries  — 
but  they  are  proud  of  her. 

"  She  does  not  start  on  a  false  scent ;  she  knows  the 
royal  character  of  the  game  before  she  hunts. 

"  A  lady  who  is  a  great  rider  said  to  me  a  few  days 
since :  '  Of  course  I  do  not  ride  like  Harriet  Hosmer, 
but,  if  you  will  notice,  there  is  method  in  Harriet 
Hosmer's  madness.  She  does  not  mount  a  horse 
until  she  has  examined  him  carefully.' 

"  At  the  time  when  I  saw  her,  she  was  thinking  of  her 
statue  of  Zenobia.  She  was  studying  the  history  of 
Palmyra,  reading  up  on  the  manners  and  customs  of  its 
people,  and  examining  Eastern  relics  and  costumes. 

"  If  she  heard  that  in  the  sacristy  of  a  certain  cathe- 
dral, hundreds  of  miles  away,  were  lying  robes  of 
Eastern  queens,  she  mounted  her  horse  and  rode  to  the 
spot,  for  the  sake  of  learning  the  lesson  they  could 
teach. 

"  Day  after  day  alone  in  her  studio,  she  studied  the 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  149 

subject.  Think  what  knowledge  of  the  country,  of 
the  history  of  the  people,  must  be  gathered,  must  be 
moulded,  to  bring  into  the  face  and  bearing  of  its  queen 
the  expression  of  the  race !  Think  what  familiar  ac- 
quaintance with  the  human  form,  to  represent  a  lifelike 
figure  at  all ! 

"  For  years  after  I  came  home  I  read  the  newspapers 
to  see  if  I  could  find  any  notice  of  the  statue  of 
Zenobia;  and  I  did  at  length  see  this  announcement: 
'  The  statue  of  Zenobia,  by  Miss  Hosmer,  is  on  exhibi- 
tion at  Childs  &  JenksV 

"  It  was  after  five  years.  All  through  those  five  years, 
Miss  Hosmer  had  kept  her  projects  steadily  turned  in 
this  direction. 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  criticism  of  art  upon  her  work, 
no  one  can  deny  that  she  is  above  the  average  artist. 

"  But  she  is  herself,  as  a  woman,  very  much  above 
herself  in  art.  If  there  came  to  any  struggling  artist  in 
Rome  the  need  of  a  friend,  —  and  of  the  thousand 
artists  in  Rome  very  few  are  successful,  —  Harriet 
Hosmer  was  that  friend. 

"  I  knew  her  to  stretch  out  a  helping  hand  to  an 
unfortunate  artist,  a  poor,  uneducated,  unattractive 
American,  against  whom  the  other  Americans  in  Rome 
shut  their  houses  and  their  hearts.  When  the  other 
Americans  turned  from  the  unsuccessful  artist,  Harriet 
Hosmer  reached  forth  the  helping  hand. 

"When  Harriet  Hosmer  knew  herself  to  be  a 
sculptor,  she  knew  also  that  in  all  America  was  no 
school  for  her.  She  must  leave  home,  she  must  live 
where  art  could  live.  She  might  model  her  busts  in 


150  MARIA    MITCHELL 

the  clay  of  her  own  soil,  but  who  should  follow  out  in 
marble  the  delicate  thought  which  the  clay  expressed? 
The  workmen  of  Massachusetts  tended  the  looms,  built 
the  railroads,  and  read  the  newspapers.  The  hard-handed 
men  of  Italy  worked  in  marble  from  the  designs  put 
before  them  ;  one  copied  the  leaves  which  the  sculptor 
threw  into  the  wreaths  around  the  brows  of  his  heroes  ; 
another  turned  with  his  tool  the  folds  of  the  drapery; 
another  wrought  up  the  delicate  tissues  of  the  flesh ; 
none  of  them  dreamed  of  ideas  :  they  were  copyists,  — 
the  very  hand-work  that  her  head  needed. 

"And  to  Italy  she  went.  For  her  school  she  sought 
the  studio  of  Gibson  —  the  greatest  sculptor  of  the  time. 

"  She  resolved  '  To  scorn  delights  and  live  laborious 
days ;  '  and  there  she  has  lived  and  worked  for  years. 

"She  fashions  the  clay  to  her  ideal — every  little 
touch  of  her  ringers  in  the  clay  is  a  thought ;  she  thinks 
in  clay. 

"The  model  finished  and  cast  in  the  dull,  hard,  inex- 
pressive plaster,  she  stands  by  the  workmen  while  they 
put  it  into  the  marble.  She  must  watch  them,  for  a 
touch  of  the  tool  in  the  wrong  place  might  alter  the 
whole  expression  of  the  face,  as  a  wrong  accent  in 
the  reader  will  spoil  a  line  of  poetry. 

"  COLLEGIO  ROMANO  ;  SECCHI.  There  was  another 
observatory  which  had  a  reputation  and  was  known 
in  America.  It  was  the  observatory  of  the  Collegio 
Romano,  and  was  in  the  monastery  behind  the  Church 
of  St.  Ignasio.  Its  director  was  the  Father  Secchi  who 
had  visited  the  United  States,  and  was  well  known  to 
the  scientists  of  this  country. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  151 

"  I  said  to  myself,  '  This  is  the  land  of  Galileo,  and 
this  is  the  city  in  which  he  was  tried.  I  knew  of  no 
sadder  picture  in  the  history  of  science  than  that  of  the 
old  man,  Galileo,  worn  by  a  long  life  of  scientific  re- 
search, weak  and  feeble,  trembling  before  that  tribunal 
whose  frown  was  torture,  and  declaring  that  to  be  false 
which  he  knew  to  be  true.  And  I  know  of  no  picture 
in  the  history  of  religion  more  weakly  pitiable  than 
that  of  the  Holy  Church  trembling  before  Galileo,  and 
denouncing  him  because  he  found  in  the  Book  of  Nature 
truths  not  stated  in  their  own  Book  of  God  —  forgetting 
that  the  Book  of  Nature  is  also  a  Book  of  God. 

"  It  seems  to  be  difficult  for  any  one  to  take  in  the 
idea  that  two  truths  cannot  conflict. 

"  Galileo  was  the  first  to  see  the  four  moons  of 
Jupiter;  and  when  he  announced  the  fact  that  four  such 
moons  existed,  of  course  he  was  met  by  various  objec- 
tions from  established  authority.  One  writer  declared 
that  as  astrologers  had  got  along  very  well  without 
these  planets,  there  could  be  no  reason  for  their  starting 
into  existence. 

"  But  his  greatest  heresy  was  this :  He  was  tried,  con- 
demned, and  punished  for  declaring  that  the  sun  was 
the  centre  of  the  system,  and  that  the  earth  moved 
around  it ;  also,  that  the  earth  turned  on  its  axis. 

"For  teaching  this,  Galileo  was  called  before  the 
assembled  cardinals  of  Rome,  and,  clad  in  black  cloth, 
was  compelled  to  kneel,  and  to  promise  never  again  to 
teach  that  the  earth  moved.  It  is  said  that  when  he 
arose  he  whispered,  '  It  does  move  !  ' 

"  He  was  tried  -at  the  Hall  of  Sopre   Minerva.     In 


152  MARIA    MITCHELL 

fewer  than  two  hundred  years  from  that  time  the 
Church  of  St.  Ignasio  was  built,  and  the  monastery  on 
whose  walls  the  instruments  of  the  modern  observatory 
stand. 

"  It  is  a  very  singular  fact,  but  one  which  seems  to 
show  that  even  in  science  '  the  blood  of  the  martyrs 
is  the  seed  of  the  church/  that  the  spot  where  Galileo 
was  tried  is  very  near  the  site  of  the  present  observa- 
tory, to  which  the  pope  was  very  liberal. 

"  From  the  Hall  of  Sopre  Minerva  you  make  but  two 
turns  through  short  streets  to  the  Fontenelle  de  Bor- 
ghese,  in  the  rear  of  which  stands  the  present  observ- 
atory. 

"  Indeed,  if  a  cardinal  should,  at  the  Hall  of  Sopre 
Minerva,  call  out  to  Secchi,  '  Watchman,  what  of  the 
night?'  Secchi  could  hear  the  question;  and  no  bolder 
views  emanate  from  any  observatory  than  those  which 
Secclu  sends  out. 

"  I  sent  a  card  to  Secchi,  and  awaited  a  call,  well 
satisfied  to  have  a  little  more  time  for  listless  strolling 
among  ruins  and  into  the  studios.  And  so  we  spent 
many  an  hour:  picking  up  land  shells  from  the  top 
of  the  Coliseum,  gathering  violets  in  the  upper 
chambers  of  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars,  —  for  the  over- 
grown walls  made  climbing  very  easy, — or,  resting 
upon  some  broken  statue  on  the  Forum,  we  admired  the 
arches  of  the  Temple  of  Peace,  thrown  upon  the  rich 
blue  of  the  sunny  skies. 

"  Returning  one  day  from  a  drive,  I  met  two  priests 
descending  one  of  the  upper  flights  of  stairs  in  the  house 
where  I  lived.  As  my  rooms  had  been  blessed  once. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR'  153 

and  holy  water  sprinkled  upon  them,  I  thought  perhaps 
another  process  of  that  kind  had  just  been  gone  through, 
and  was  about  to  pass  them,  when  one  of  them,  accost- 
ing me,  asked  if  I  were  the  Signorine  Mitchell,  — chang- 
ing his  Italian  to  good  English  as  he  saw  that  I  was, 
and  introducing  himself  as  Father  Secchi.  He  told  me 
that  the  younger  man  was  a  young  religieux,  and  the 
two  turned  and  went  back  with  me. 

"  I  recalled,  as  I  saw  Father  Secchi,  an  anecdote  I  had 
heard,  no  way  to  his  credit, — except  for  ingenious 
trickery.  It  was  said  that  coming  to  America  he 
brought  with  him  the  object-glass  of  a  telescope,  at  a 
time  when  scientific  apparatus  paid  a  high  duty.  Being 
asked  by  some  official  what  the  article  was,  he  replied, 
'  My  looking-glass/  and  in  that  way  passed  it  off  as  per- 
sonal wardrobe,  so  escaped  the  duty.  (It  may  have 
been  De  Vico.) 

"  Father  Secchi  had  brought  with  him,  to  show  me, 
negatives  of  the  planet  Saturn,  —  the  rings  showing 
beautifully,  although  the  image  was  not  more  than  half 
an  inch  in  size. 

"  I  was  ignorant  enough  of  the  ways  of  papal  institu- 
tions, and,  indeed,  of  all  Italy,  to  ask  if  I  might  visit  the 
Roman  Observatory.  I  remembered  that  the  days  of 
Galileo  were  days  of  two  centuries  since.  I  did  not 
know  that  my  heretic  feet  must  not  enter  the  sanctuary, 
—  that  my  woman's  robe  must  not  brush  the  seats  of 
learning. 

"  The  Father's  refusal  was  seen  in  his  face  at  once, 
and  I  felt  that  I  had  done  something  highly  improper. 
The  Father  said  that  he  would  have  been  most  happy  to 


154  MARIA    MITCHELL 

have  me  visit  him,  but  he  had  not  the  power  —  it  was 
a  religious  institution  —  he  had  already  applied  to  his 
superior,  who  was  not  willing  to  grant  permission  — 
the  power  lay  with  the  Holy  Father  or  one  of  his  car- 
dinals. I  was  told  that  Mrs.  Somerville,  the  most 
learned  woman  in  all  Europe,  had  been  denied  admis- 
sion ;  that  the  daughter  of  Sir  John  Herschel,  in  spite 
of  English  rank,  and  the  higher  stamp  of  Nature's  nobil- 
ity, was  at  that  time  in  Rome,  and  could  not  enter  an 
observatory  which  was  at  the  same  time  a  monastery. 

"  If  I  had  before  been  mildly  desirous  of  visiting  the 
observatory,  I  was  now  intensely  anxious  to  do  so. 
Father  Secchi  suggested  that  I  should  see  Cardinal 
Antonelli  in  person,  with  a  written  application  in  my 
hand.  This  was  not  to  be  thought  of  —  to  ask  an  inter- 
view with  the  wily  cardinal ! 

FROM    A    LETTER    TO    HER   FATHER. 

.  .  .  I  am  working  to  get  admitted  to  see  the  observatory,  but 
it  cannot  be  done  without  special  permission  from  the  pope,  and  I 
don't  like  to  be  "  presented."  If  I  can  get  permission  without  the 
humbug,  of  putting  on  a  black  veil  and  receiving  a  blessing  from 
Pius,  I  shall ;  but  I  shrink  from  the  formality  of  presentation.  I 
know  thou'd  say  "  Be  presented." 

"  Our  minister  at  that  time  had  the  reputation  of 
being  very  careless  of  the  needs  and  wishes  of  his  coun- 
trymen, and  I  was  not  surprised  to  find  a  long  delay. 

"  In  the  course  of  my  waiting,  I  had  told  my  story  to 
a  young  Italian  gentleman,  the  nephew  of  a  monseig- 
neur;  a  monseigneur  being  next  in  rank  to  a  cardinal. 
He  assured  me  that  permission  would  never  be  obtained 
by  our  minister. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  155 

"  After  a  fortnight's  waiting  I  received  a  permit, 
written  on  parchment,  and  signed  by  Cardinal  Antonelli. 

"  When  the  young  Italian  next  called,  I  held  the 
parchment  up  in  triumph,  and  boasted  that  Minister 

had  at  length  moved  in  the  matter.  The  young 

man  coolly  replied,  '  Yes,  I  spoke  to  my  uncle  last 
evening,  and  asked  him  to  urge  the  matter  with  Car- 
dinal Antonelli ;  but  for  that  it  would  never  have 
come !  '  There  had  been  '  red  tape,'  and  I  had  not 
seen  it. 

"  At  the  same  time  that  the  formal  missive  was  sent 
to  me,  a  similar  one  was  sent  to  Father  Secchi,  author- 
izing him  to  receive  me.  The  Father  called  at  once  to 
make  the  arrangements  for  my  visit.  I  made  the  most 
natural  mistake !  I  supposed  that  the  doors  which 
opened  to  one  woman,  opened  to  all,  and  I  asked  to 
take  with  me  my  Italian  servant,  a  quick-witted  and 
bright-eyed  woman,  who  had  escorted  me  to  and 
from  social  parties  in  the  evening,  and  who  had  learned 
in  these  walks  the  names  of  the  stars,  receiving  them 
from  me  in  English,  and  giving  back  to  me  the  sweet 
Italian  words ;  and  who  had  come  to  think  herself 
quite  an  astronomer.  Father  Secchi  refused  at  once. 
He  said  I  was  to  meet  him  at  the  Church  of  St.  Ig- 
nasio  at  one  and  a  half  hours  before  Ave  Marie,  and 
he  would  conduct  me  through  the  church  into  the 
observatory.  My  servant  might  come  into  the  church 
with  me.  The  Ave  Marie  bell  rings  half  an  hour  after 
sunset. 

"  At  the  appointed  time,  the  next  fine  day,  —  and  all 
days  seem  to  be  fine,  —  we  set  out  on  our  mission. 


156  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  When  we  entered  the  church  we  saw,  far  in  the  dis- 
tance, Father  Secchi,  standing  just  behind  a  pillar. 
He  slipped  out  a  little  way,  as  much  as  to  say,  4 1 
await  you/  but  did  not  come  forward  to  meet  us ;  so 
the  woman  and  I  passed  along  through  the  rows  of 
kneeling  worshippers,  by  the  strolling  students,  and 
past  the  lounging  tourists  —  who,  guide-book  in  hand, 
are  seen  in  every  foreign  church  —  until  we  came  to  the 
standpoint  from  which  the  Father  had  been  watch- 
ing us. 

"Then  the  Italian  woman  put  up  a  petition,  not  one 
word  of  which  I  could  understand,  but  the  gestures 
and  the  pointing  showed  that  she  begged  to  go  on  and 
enter  the  monastery  and  see  the  observatory.  Father 
Secchi  said,  '  No,  the  Holy  Father  gave  permission  to 
one  only,'  and  alone  I  entered  the  monastery  walls. 

"Through  long  halls,  up  winding  staircases,  occasion- 
ally stopped  by  some  priest  who  touched  his  broad 
hat  and  asked  '  Parlate  Italiano?'  occasionally  passed 
by  students,  often  stopped  by  pictures  on  the  walls,  — 
once  to  be  introduced  to  a  professor;  then  through  the 
library  of  the  monastery,  full  of  manuscripts  on  which 
monks  had  worked  away  their  lives ;  then  through  the 
astronomical  library,  where  young  astronomers  were 
working  away  theirs,  we  reached  at  length  the  dome 
and  the  telescope. 

"One  observatory  is  so  much  like  another  that  it  does 
not  seem  worth  while  to  describe  Father  Secchi's. 
This  observatory  has  a  telescope  about  the  size  of  that 
at  Washington  (about  twelve  inches).  Secchi  had 
no  staff,  and  no  prescribed  duties.  The  base  of  the 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  157 

observatory  was  the  solid  foundation  of  the  old  Ro- 
man building.  The  church  was  built  in  1650,  and  the 
monastery  in  part  at  that  time,  certainly  the  dome  of 
the  room  in  which  was  the  meridian  instrument. 

"  The  staircase  is  cut  out  of  the  old  Roman  walls, 
which  no  roll  of  carriage,  except  that  of  the  earthquake 
chariot,  can  shake. 

"  Having  no  prescribed  duties,  Secchi  could  follow  his 
fancies  —  he  could  pick  up  comets  as  he  picked  up  bits 
of  Mosaic  upon  the  Roman  forum.  He  learns  what 
himself  and  his  instruments  can  do,  and  he  keeps  to 
that  narrow  path. 

"  He  was  at  that  time  much  interested  in  celestial 
photography. 

"  Italy  must  be  the  very  paradise  of  astronomers  j 
certainly  I  never  saw  objects  so  well  before ;  the  purity 
of  the  air  must  be  very  superior  to  ours.  We  looked 
at  Venus  with  a  power  of  150,  but  it  was  not  good. 
Jupiter  was  beautiful,  and  in  broad  daylight  the  belts 
were  plainly  seen.  With  low  powers  the  moon  was 
charming,  but  the  air  would  not  bear  high  ones. 

"  Father  Secchi  said  he  had  used  a  power  of  2,000, 
but  that  600  was  more  common.  I  have  rarely  used 
400.  Saturn  was  exquisite ;  the  rings  were  separated! 
all  around ;  the  dusky  ring  could  be  seen,,  and,,  of 
course,  the  shadow  of  the  ball  upon  the  ring. 

"  The  spectroscopic  method  of  observing  starlight 
was  used  by  Secchi  as  early  as  by  any  astronomer. 
By  this  method  the  starlight  is  analyzed,  and  the  sun- 
light is  analyzed,  and  the  two  compared.  If  it  does 
not  disclose  absolutely  what  are  the  peculiarities  of 


158  MARIA    MITCHELL 

starlight  and  sunlight,  relatively,  it  traces  the  relation-1 
ship. 

"  In  order  to  be  successful  in  this  kind  of  observation, 
the  telescope  must  keep  very  accurately  the  motion  of 
the  earth  in  its  axis ;  and  so  the  papal  government  fur- 
nishes nice  machinery  to  keep  up  with  this  motion,  — 
the  same  motion  for  declaring  whose  existence  Galileo 
suffered !  The  two  hundred  years  had  done  their 
work. 

"  I  should  have  been  glad  to  stay  until  dark  to  look 
at  nebulae,  but  the  Father  kindly  informed  me  'that 
my  permission  did  not  extend  beyond  the  daylight, 
which  was  fast  leaving  us,  and  conducting  me  to  the 
door  he  informed  me  that  I  must  make  my  way  home 
alone,  adding, '  But  we  live  in  a  civilized  country.' 

"  I  did  not  express  to  him  the  doubt  that  rose  to  my 
thoughts !  The  Ave  Marie  bell  rings  half  an  hour 
after  sunset,  and  before  that  time  I  must  be  out  of 
the  observatory  and  at  my  own  house." 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  159 


CHAPTER  VIII 

1858-1865 

FIRST    EUROPEAN   TOUR    CONCLUDED MRS.   SOMERVILLE  HUM— 

BOLDT    MRS.     MITCHELL'S    DEATH    REMOVAL    TO     LYNN, 

MASS. PRESENT   OF   AN    EQUATORIAL   TELESCOPE  EXTRACTS 

FROM    LETTERS 

"  I  HAD  no  hope,  when  I  went  to  Europe,  of  knowing 
Mrs.  Somerville.  American  men  of  science  did  not 
know  her,  and  there  had  been  unpleasant  passages  be- 
tween the  savants  of  Europe  and  those  of  the  United 
States  which  made  my  friends  a  little  reluctant  about 
giving  me  letters. 

"  Professor  Henry  offered  to  send  me  letters,  and 
said  that  among  them  should  be  one  to  Mrs.  Somer- 
ville ;  but  when  his  package  came,  no  such  letter 
appeared,  and  I  did  not  like  to  press  the  matter,  — 
indeed,  after  I  had  been  in  England  I  was  not  surprised 
at  any  amount  of  reluctance.  They  rarely  asked  to 
know  my  friends,  and  yet,  if  they  were  made  known 
to  them,  they  did  their  utmost. 

"  So  I  went  to  Europe  with  no  letter  to  Mrs.  Somer- 
ville, and  no  letter  to  the  Herschels. 

"  I  was  very  soon  domesticated  with  the  Airys,  and 
really  felt  my  importance  when  I  came  to  sleep  in  one 
of  the  round  rooms  of  the  Royal  Observatory.  I  dared 
give  no  hint  to  the  Airys  that  I  wanted  to  know  the 


160  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Herschels,  although  they  were  intimate  friends.  '  What 
was  I  that  I  should  love  them,  save  for  feeling  of  the 
pain?'  But  one  fine  day  a  letter  came  to  Mrs.  Airy 
from  Lady  Herschel,  and  she  asked,  '  Would  not  Miss 
Mitchell  like  to  visit  us?'  Of  course  Miss  Mitchell 
jumped  at  the  chance  !  Mrs.  Airy  replied,  and  prob- 
ably hinted  that  Miss  Mitchell  'could  be  induced/ 
etc. 

"  If  the  Airys  were  old  friends  of  Mrs.  Somerville,  the 
Herschels  were  older.  The  Airys  were  just  and  kind 
to  me ;  the  Herschels  were  lavish,  and  they  offered  me 
a  letter  to  Mrs.  Somerville. 

"  So,  provided  with  this  open  sesame  to  Mrs.  Somer- 
ville's  heart,  I  called  at  her  residence  in  Florence,  in  the 
spring  of  1858. 

"  I  sent  in  the  letter  and  a  card,  and  waited  in  the 
large  Florentine  parlor.  In  the  open  fireplace  blazed 
a  wood  fire  very  suggestive  of  American  comfort  — 
very  deceitful  in  the  suggestion,  for  there  is  little  of 
home  comfort  in  Italy. 

"  After  some  little  delay  I  heard  a  footstep  come 
shuffling  along  the  outer  room,  and  an  exceedingly  tall 
and  very  old  man  entered  the  room,  in  the  singular 
head-dress  of  a  red  bandanna  turban,  approached  me, 
and  introduced  himself  as  Dr.  Somerville,  the  husband. 

"  He  was  very  proud  of  his  wife,  and  very  desirous  of 
talking  about  her,  a  weakness  quite  pardonable  in  the 
judgment  of  one  who  is  desirous  to  know.  He  began 
at  once  on  the  subject.  Mrs.  Somerville,  he  said,  took 
great  interest  in  the  Americans,  for  she  claimed  con- 
nection with  the  family  of  George  Washington. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  l6l 

"  Washington's  half-brother,  Lawrence,  married  Anne 
Fairfax,  who  was  one  of  the  Scotch  family.  When 
Lieutenant  Fairfax  was  ordered  to  America,  Washington 
wrote  to  him  as  a  family  relative,  and  asked  him  to 
make  him  a  visit.  Lieutenant  Fairfax  applied  to  his 
commanding  officer  for  permission  to  accept,  and  it  was 
refused.  They  never  met,  and  much  to  the  regret  of 
the  Fairfax  family  the  letter  of  Washington  was  lost. 
The  Fairfaxes  of  Virginia  are  of  the  same  family,  and 
occasionally  some  member  of  the  American  branch 
returns  to  see  his  Scotch  cousins. 

"  While  Dr.  Somerville  was  eagerly  talking  of  these 
things,  Mrs.  Somerville  came  tripping  into  the  room, 
speaking  at  once  with  the  vivacity  of  a  young  person. 
She  was  seventy-seven  years  old,  but  appeared  twenty 
years  younger.  She  was  not  handsome,  but  her  face 
was  pleasing ;  the  forehead  low  and  broad ;  the  eyes 
blue ;  the  features  so  regular,  that  in  the  marble  bust 
by  Chantrey,  which  I  had  seen,  I  had  considered  her 
handsome. 

"  Neither  bust  nor  picture,  however,  gives  a  correct 
idea  of  her,  except  in  the  outline  of  the  head  anci 
shoulders. 

"  She  spoke  with  a  strong  Scotch  accent,  and  was 
slightly  affected  with  deafness,  an  infirmity  so  common 
in  England  and  Scotland. 

"  While  Mrs.  Somerville  talked,  the  old  gentleman, 
seated  by  the  fire,  busied  himself  in  toasting  a  slice  of 
bread  on  a  fork,  whieh  he  kept  at  a  slow-toasting  dis- 
tance from  the  coals.  An  English  lady  was  present, 
learned  in  art,  who,  with  a  volubility  worthy  of  an 


1 62  MARIA    MITCHELL 

American,  rushed  into  every  little  opening  of  Mrs. 
Somerville's  more  measured  sentences  with  her  remarks 
upon  recent  discoveries  in  her  specialty.  Whenever 
this  occurred,  the  old  man  grew  fidgety,  moved  the 
slice  of  bread  backwards  and  forwards  as  if  the  fire 
were  at  fault,  and  when,  at  length,  the  English  lady  had 
fairly  conquered  the  ground,  and  was  started  on  a  long 
sentence,  he  could  bear  the  eclipse  of  his  idol  no  longer, 
but,  coming  to  the  sofa  where  we  sat,  he  testily  said, 
*  Mrs.  Somerville  would  rather  talk  on  science  than  on 
art.' 

"  Mrs.  Somerville's  conversation  was  marked  by  great 
simplicity;  it  was  rather  of  the  familiar  and  chatty 
order,  with  no  tendency  to  the  essay  style.  She 
touched  upon  the  recent  discoveries  in  chemistry  or 
the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  of  the  nebulae, 
more  and  more  of  which  she  thought  might  be  re- 
solved, and  yet  that  there  might  exist  nebulous  matters, 
such  as  compose  the  tails  of  comets,  of  the  satellites,  of 
the  planets,  the  last  of  which  she  thought  had  other 
uses  than  as  subordinates.  She  spoke  with  disappro- 
bation of  Dr.  WheweH's  attempt  to  prove  that  our 
planet  was  the  only  one  inhabited  by  reasoning  beings; 
she  believed  that  a  higher  order  of  beings  than  our- 
selves might  people  them. 

"  On  subsequent  visits  there  were  many  questions 
from  Mrs.  Somerville  in  regard  to  the  progress  of 
science  in  America.  She  regretted,  she  said,  that  she 
knew  so  little  of  what  was  done  in  our  country. 

"  From  Lieutenant  Maury,  alone,  she  received  scien- 
tific papers.  She  spoke  of  the  late  Dr.  (Nathaniel) 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  163 

Bowditch  with  great  interest,  and  said  she  had  corre- 
sponded with  one  of  his  sons.  She  asked  after 
Professor  Peirce,  whom  she  considered  a  great  mathe- 
matician, and  of  the  Bonds,  of  Cambridge.  She  was 
much  interested  in  their  photography  of  the  stars,  and 
said  it  had  never  been  done  in  Europe.  At  that  time 
photography  was  but  just  applied  to  the  stars.  I  had 
carried  to  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society  the  first 
successful  photograph  of  a  star.  It  was  that  of  Mizar 
and  Alcor,  in  the  Great  Bear.  (Since  that  time  all  these 
things  have  improved.) 

"  The  last  time  I  saw  Mrs.  Somerville,  she  took  me 
into  her  garden  to  show  me  her  rose-bushes,  in  which 
she  took  great  pride.  Mrs.  Somerville  was  not  a 
mathematician  only,  she  spoke  Italian  fluently,  and 
was  in  early  life  a  good  musician. 

"  I  could  but  admire  Mrs.  Somerville  as  a  woman. 
The  ascent  of  the  steep  and  rugged  path  of  science  had 
not  unfitted  her  for  the  drawing-room  circle ;  the  hours 
of  devotion  to  close  study  have  not  been  incompatible 
with  the  duties  of  wife  and  mother ;  the  mind  that  has 
turned  to  rigid  demonstration  has  not  thereby  lost  its 
faith  in  those  truths  which  figures  will  not  prove.  '  I 
have  no  doubt,'  said  she,  in  speaking  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  '  that  in  another  state  of  existence  we  shall 
know  more  about  these  things.' 

"  Mrs.  Somerville,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  was 
interested  in  every  new  improvement,  hopeful,  cheery, 
and  happy.  Her  society  was  sought  by  the  most 
cultivated  people  in  the  world.  [She  died  at  ninety- 
two.] 


1 64  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"Berlin,  May  7,  1858.  Humboldt  had  replied  to  my 
letter  of  introduction  by  a  note,  saying  that  he  should 
be  happy  to  see  me  at  2  P.M.,  May  7.  Of  course  I 
was  punctual.  Humboldt  is  one  of  several  residents 
in  a  very  ordinary-looking  house  on  Oranienberge 
strasse. 

"  All  along  up  the  flight  of  stairs  to  his  room  were 
printed  notices  telling  persons  where  to  leave  packages 
and  letters  for  Alexander  Humboldt. 

"  The  servant  showed  me  at  first  into  a  sort  of  ante- 
room, hung  with  deers'  horns  and  carpeted  with  tigers' 
skins,  then  into  the  study,  and  asked  me  to  take  a  seat 
on  the  sofa.  The  room  was  very  warm ;  comfort  was 
evidently  carefully  considered,  for  cushions  were  all 
around ;  the  sofa  was  handsomely  covered  with  worsted 
embroidery.  A  long  study-table  was  full  of  books  and 
papers. 

"  I  had  waited  but  a  few  moments  when  Humboldt 
came  in ;  he  was  a  smaller  man  than  I  had  expected  to 
see.  He  was  neater,  more  '  trig,'  than  the  pictures 
represent  him ;  in  looking  at  the  pictures  you  feel  that 
his  head  is  too  large,  —  out  of  proportion  to  the  body, 
—  but  you  do  not  perceive  this  when  you  see  him. 

"  He  bowed  in  a  most  courtly  manner,  and  told  me 
he  was  much  obliged  to  me  for  coming  to  see  him,  then 
shook  hands,  and  asked  me  to  sit,  and  took  a  chair 
near  me. 

"  There  was  a  clock  in  sight,  and  I  stayed  but  half  an 
hour.  He  talked  every  minute,  and  on  all  kinds  of 
subjects :  of  Dr.  Bache,  who  was  then  at  the  head 
of  the  U.S.  Coast  Survey;  of  Dr.  Gould,  who  had 


FIRST   EUROPEAN   TOUR  165 

recently  returned  from  long  years  in  South  America; 
of  the  Washington  Observatory  and  its  director,  Lieu- 
tenant Maury ;  of  the  Dudley  Observatory,  at  Albany; 
of  Sir  George  Airy,  of  the  Greenwich  Observatory; 
of  Professor  Enke's  comet  reputation ;  of  Argelander, 
who  was  there  observing  variable  stars ;  of  Mrs.  Somer- 
ville  and  Goldschmidt,  and  of  his  brother. 

"  It  was  the  period  when  the  subject  of  admitting 
Kansas  as  a  slave  State  was  discussed  —  he  touched 
upon  that ;  it  was  during  the  administration  of  President 
Buchanan,  and  he  talked  about  that. 

"  Having  been  nearly  a  year  in  Europe,  I  had  not 
kept  up  my  reading  of  American  newspapers,  but  Hum- 
boldt  could  tell  me  the  latest  news,  scientifically  and 
politically.  To  my  ludicrous  mortification,  he  told  me 
of  the  change  of  position  of  some  scientific  professor  in 
New  York  State,  and  when  I  showed  that  I  didn't  know 
the  location  of  the  towrf,  which  was  Clinton,  he  told  me 
if  I  would  look  at  the  map,  which  lay  upon  the  table,  I 
should  find  the  town  somewhere  between  Albany  and 
Buffalo. 

"  Humboldt  was  always  considered  a  good-tempered, 
kindly-natured  man,  but  his  talk  was  a  little  fault-find- 
ing. 

"  He  said  :  '  Lieutenant  Maury  has  been  useful,  but 
for  the  director  of  an  observatory  he  has  put  forth 
some  strange  statements  in  the  '  Geography  of  the 
Sea.' 

"  He  asked  me  if  Mrs.  Somerville  was  now  occupied 
with  pure  mathematics.  He  said  :  '  There  she  is  strong. 
I  never  saw  her  but  once.  She  must  be  over  sixty 


1 66  MARIA    MITCHELL 

years  old/  In  reality  she  was  seventy-seven.  He  spoke 
with  admiration  of  Mrs.  Somerville's  'Physical  Geog- 
raphy,'—  said  it  was  excellent  because  so  concise.  '  A 
German  woman  would  have  used  more  words.' 

"  Humboldt  asked  me  if  they  could  apply  photog- 
raphy to  the  small  stars  —  to  the  eighth  or  ninth 
magnitude.  I  had  asked  the  same  question  of  Professor 
Bond,  of  Cambridge,  and  he  had  replied,  '  Give  me 
$500,000,  and  we  can  do  it;  but  it  is  very  expensive/ 

"  Humboldt  spoke  of  the  fifty-three  small  planets,  and 
gave  his  opinion  that  they  could  not  be  grouped  to- 
gether ;  that  there  was  no  apparent  connection. 

"  Having  lost  all  his  teeth,  Humboldt's  articulation  was 
indistinct — he  talked  very  rapidly.  His  hair  was  thin 
and  very  white,  his  eyes  very  blue,  his  nose  too  broad 
and  too  flat;  yet  he  was  a  handsome  man.  He  wore  a 
white  necktie,  a  black  dress-coat,  buttoned  up,  but  not 
so  much  so  that  it  hid  a  figured  dark-blue  and  white 
waistcoat.  He  was  a  little  deaf.  He  told  me  that  he 
was  eighty-nine  years  old,  and  that  he  and  Bonpland, 
alone,  were  living  of  those  who  in  early  life  were  on 
expeditions  together;  that  Bonpland  was  eighty-five, 
and  much  the  more  vigorous  of  the  two. 

"  He  said  that  we  had  gone  backwards,  morally,  in 
America  since  he  was  there,  —  that  then  there  were 
strong  men  there :  Jefferson,  and  Hamilton,  and  Madi- 
son ;  that  the  three  months  he  spent  in  America  were 
spent  almost  wholly  with  Jefferson. 

"  In  the  course  of  conversation  he  told  me  that  the 
fifth  volume  of  '  Cosmos  '  was  in  preparation.  He  urged 
me  to  go  to  see  Argelander  on  my  way  to  London ;  he 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  167 

followed  me  out,  still  urging  me  to  do  this,  and  at  the 
same  time  assured  me  that  Kansas  would  go  all  right. 

"  it  was  singular  that  Humboldt  should  advise  me  to 
use  the  sextant ;  it  was  the  first  instrument  that  I  ever 
used,  and  it  is  a  very  difficult  one.  No  young  aspirant 
in  science  ever  left  Humboldt's  presence  uncheered, 
and  no  petty  animosities  come  out  in  his  record.  You 
never  heard  of  Humboldt's  complaining  that  any  one 
had  stolen  his  thunder,  —  he  knew  that  no  one  could  lift 
his  bolts. 

"When  I  came  away,  he  thanked  me  again  for  the 
visit,  followed  me  into  the  anteroom,  and  made  a  low 
bow." 

In  1855  Mrs.  Mitchell  was  taken  suddenly  ill,  and 
although  partial  recovery  followed,  her  illness  lasted  for 
six  years,  during  which  time  Maria  was  her  constant 
nurse.  For  most  of  the  six  years  her  mother's  condi- 
tion was  such  that  merely  a  general  care  was  needed, 
but  it  used  to  be  said  that  Maria's  eyes  were  always 
upon  her.  When  the  opportunity  to  go  to  Europe  came, 
an  older  sister  came  with  her  family  to  take  Maria's 
place  in  the  home ;  and  when  Miss  Mitchell  returned 
she  found  her  mother  so  nearly  in  the  state  in  which  she 
had  left  her,  that  she  felt  justified  in  having  taken  the 
journey. 

Mrs.  Mitchell  died  in  1861,  and  a  few  months  after 
her  death  Mr.  Mitchell  and  his  daughter  removed  to 
Lynn,  Mass.  —  Miss  Mitchell  having  purchased  a  small 
house  in  that  city,  in  the  rear  of  which  she  erected 
the  little  observatory  brought  from  Narituckct.  She 
was  very  much  depressed  by  her  mother's  death,  and 


1 68  MARIA    MITCHELL 

absorbed  herself  as  much  as  possible  in  her  observations 
and  in  her  work  for  the  Nautical  Almanac. 

Soon  after  her  return  from  Europe  she  had  been  pre- 
sented with  an  equatorial  telescope,  the  gift  of  Ameri- 
can women,  through  Miss  Elizabeth  Peabody.  The 
following  letter  refers  to  this  instrument: 

LETTER  FROM  ADMIRAL  SMYTH, 

ST.  JOHN'S  LODGE,  > 
NEAR  AYLESBURY,  > 

MY  DEAR  Miss  MITCHELL  :  .  .  .  We  are  much  pleased  to  hear 
of  your  acquisition  of  an  equatorial  instrument  under  a  revolving 
roof,  for  it  is  a  true  scientific  luxury  as  well  as  an  efficient  imple- 
ment. The  aperture  of  your  object-glass  is  sufficient 'for  doing 
much  useful  work,  but,  if  I  may  hazard  an  opinion  to  you,  do  not 
attempt  too  much,  for  it  is  quality  rather  than  quantity  which  is  now 
desirable.  I  would  therefore  leave  the  multiplication  of  objects  to 
the  larger  order  of  telescopes,  and  to  those  who  are  given  to  sweep 
and  ransack  the  heavens,  of  whom  there  is  a  goodly  corps.  Now, 
for  your  purpose,  I  would  recommend  a  batch  of  neat,  but  not  over- 
close,  binary  systems,  selected  so  as  to  have  always  one  or  the  other 
on  hand. 

I,  however,  have  been  bestirring  myself  to  put  amateurs  upon  a 
more  convenient  and,  I  think,  a  better  mode  of  examining  double 
stars  than  by  the  wire  micrometer,  with  its  faults  of  illumination, 
fiddling,  jumps,  and  dirty  lamps.  This  is  by  the  beautiful  method 
of  rock-crystal  prisms,  not  the  Rochon  method  of  double-image, 
but  by  thin  wedges  cut  to  given  angles.  I  have  told  Mr.  Alvan 
Clark  my  "  experiences."  and  I  hope  he  will  apply  his  excellent 
mind  to  the  scheme.  I  am  insisting  upon  this  point  in  some  astro- 
nomical twaddle  which  I  am  now  printing,  and  of  which  I  shall 
soon  have  to  request  your  acceptance  of  a  copy. 

There  is  a  very  important  department  which  calls  for  a  zealous 
amateur  or  two,  namely,  the  colors  of  double  stars,  for  these  have 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  169 

usually  been  noted  after  the  eye  has  been  fatigued  with  observing 
in  illuminated  fields.  The  volume  I  hope  to  forward — enhommage 
—  will  contain  all  the  pros  and  cons  of  this  branch. 

There  is,  for  ultimate  utility,  nothing  like  forming  a  plan  and 
then  steadily  following  it.  Those  who  profess  they  will  attend  to 
everything  often  fall  short  of  the  mark.  The  division  of  labor 
leads  to  beneficial  conclusions  as  well  in  astronomy  as  in  mechanics 
and  arts. 

Mrs.  Smyth  and  my  daughter  unite  with  me  in  wishing  you  all 
happiness  and  success ;  and  believe  me 

My  dear  Miss  Mitchell, 

Yours  very  faithfully, 

W.  H.  SMYTH. 


In  regard  to  the  colors  of  stars,  Miss  Mitchell  had 
already  begun  their  study,  as  these  extracts  from  her 
diary  show: 

"Feb.  19,  1853.  I  am  just  learning  to  notice  the  dif- 
ferent colors  of  the  stars,  and  already  begin  to  have  a 
new  enjoyment.  Betelgeuse  is  strikingly  red,  while  Rigel 
is  yellow.  There  is  something  of  the  same  pleasure  in 
noticing  the  hues  that  there  is  in  looking  at  a  collec- 
tion of  precious  stones,  or  at  a  flower-garden  in  autumn. 
Blue  stars  I  do  not  yet  see,  and  but  little  lilac  except 
through  the  telescope. 

"Feb.  12,  1855.  ...  I  swept  around  for 
comets  about  an  hour,  and  then  I  amused  myself  with 
noticing  the  varieties  of  color.  I  wonder  that  I  have  so 
long  been  insensible  to  this  charm  in  the  skies,  the 
tints  of  the  different  stars  are  so  delicate  in  their  variety. 
.  .  .  What  a  pity  that  some  of  our  manufacturers 
shouldn't  be  able  to  steal  the  secret  of  dyestuffs  from 


I/O  MARIA    MITCHELL 

the   stars,  and    astonish    the    feminine    taste    by    new 
brilliancy  in  fashion."  l 

[NANTUCKET],  April  [1860]. 

MY  DEAR  :  Your  father  just  gave  me  a  great  fright  by  "  tapping 
at  my  window"  (I  believe  Poe's  was  a  door,  wasn't  it?)  and 
holding  up  your  note.  1  was  busy  examining  some  star  notices 
just  received  from  Russia  or  Germany,  —  I  never  knew  where  Dor- 
pat  is,  — and  just  thinking  that  my  work  was  as  good  as  theirs.  I 
always  noticed  that  when  school-teachers  took  a  holiday  in  order 
to  visit  other  institutions  they  came  home  and  quietly  said,  "No 
school  is  better  or  as  good  as  mine."  And  then  I  read  your  note, 
and  perceive  your  reading  is  as  good  as  Mrs.  Kemble's.  Now, 
being  modest,  I  always  felt  afraid  the  reason  I  thought  you  such  a 
good  reader  was  because  I  didn't  know  any  better,  but  if  all  the 
world  is  equally  ignorant,  it  makes  it  all  right.  .  .  . 

IVe  been  intensely  busy.  I  have  been  looking  for  the  little 
inferior  planet  to  cross  the  sun,  which  it  hasn't  done,  and  I  got  an 
article  ready  for  the  paper  and  then  hadn't  the  courage  to  publish 
—  not  for  fear  of  the  readers,  but  for  fear  that  I  should  change  my 
own  ideas  by  the  time  'twas  in  print. 

I  am  hoping,  however,  to  have  something  by  the  meeting  of  the 
Scientific  Association  in  August,  —  some  paper,  —  not  to  get  repu- 
tation for  myself,  —  my  reputation  is  so  much  beyond  me  that  as 
policy  I  should  keep  quiet,  —  but  in  order  that  my  telescope  may 
show  that  it  is  at  work.  I  am  embarrassed  by  the  amount  of  work 
it  might  do  —  as  you  do  not  know  which  of  Mrs.  Browning's  poems 
to  read,  there  are  so  many  beauties. 

The  little  republic  of  San  Marino  presented  Miss 
Mitchell,  in  1859,  with  a  bronze  medal  of  merit,  to- 
gether with  the  Ribbon  and  Letters  Patent  signed  by  the 
two  captains  regent.  This  medal  she  prized  as  highly 
as  the  gold  one  from  Denmark. 

1  See  Chapter  XI. 


FIRST  EUROPEAN   TOUR  I /I 

"  Nantucket,  May  12,  i8[6o].  ...  I  send  you  a 
notice  of  an  occultation ;  the  last  sentence  and  the  last 
figures  are  mine.  You  and  I  can  never  occult,  for  have 
we  not  always  helped  one  another  to  shine?  Do  you 
have  Worcester's  Dictionary?  I  read  it  continually. 
Did  you  feast  on  '  The  Marble  Faun '  ?  I  have  a 
charming  letter  from  Una  Hawthorne,  herself  a  poet  by 
nature,  all  about  '  papa's  book.'  Ought  not  Mr.  Haw- 
thorne to  be  the  happiest  man  alive?  He  isn't,  though  ! 
Do  save  all  the  anecdotes  you  possibly  can,  piquant  or 
not;  starved  people  are  not  over-nice. 

LYNN,  Jan.  5  [1864]. 

...  I  very  rarely  see  the  B s ;  they  go  to  a  different 

church,  and  you  know  with  that  class  of  people  "  not  to  be  with  us 
is  to  be  against  us."  Indeed,  I  know  very  little  of  Lynn  people. 
If  I  can  get  at  Mr.  J.,  when  you  come  to  see  me  I'll  ask  him  to 
tea.  He  has  called  several  times,  but  he's  in  such  demand  that  he 
must  be  engaged  some  weeks  in  advance  !  Would  you,  if  you 
lived  in  Lynn,  want  to  fall  into  such  a  mass  of  idolaters? 

I  was  wretchedly  busy  up  to  December  3 1 ,  but  have  got  into 
quiet  seas  again.  I  have  had  a  great  deal  of  company  —  not  a 
person  that  I  did  not  want  to  see,  but  I  can't  make  the  days 
more  than  twenty-four  hours  long,  with  all  my  economy  of  time. 
This  week  Professor  Crosby,  of  Salem,  comes  up  with  his  gradual 
ing  class  and  his  corps  of  teachers  for  an  evening. 

They  remained  in  Lynn  until  Miss  Mitchell  was 
called  to  Vassar  College,  in  1865,  as  professor  of  as- 
tronomy and  director  of  the  observatory. 


1 72  MARIA    MITCHELL 


CHAPTER  IX 

1865-1885 
LIFE   AT     VASSAR    COLLEGE 

IN  her  life  at  Vassar  College  there  was  a  great  deal 
for  Miss  Mitchell  to  get  accustomed  to ;  if  her  duties  had 
been  merely  as  director  of  the  observatory,  it  would 
have  been  simply  a  continuation  of  her  previous  work. 
But  she  was  expected,  of  course,  to  teach  astronomy ; 
she  was  by  no  means  sure  that  she  could  succeed  as  a 
teacher,  and  with  this  new  work  on  hand  she  could  not 
confine  herself  to  original  investigation  —  that  which 
had  been  her  great  aim  in  life. 

But  she  was  so  much  interested  in  the  movement 
for  the  higher  education  of  women,  an  interest  which 
deepened  as  her  work  went  on,  that  she  gave  up,  in  a 
great  measure,  her  scientific  life,  and  threw  herself  heart 
and  soul  into  this  work. 

For  some  years  after  she  went  to  Vassar,  sne  $til\ 
continued  the  work  for  the  Nautical  Almanac ;  but  after 
a  while  she  relinquished  that,  and  confined  herself 
wholly  to  the  work  in  the  college. 

"  1866.  Vassar  College  brought  together  a  mass  of 
heterogeneous  material,  out  of  which  it  was  expected 
that  a  harmonious  whole  would  evolve  —  pupils  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  of  different  habits,  different  train- 
ing, different  views  ;  teachers,  mostly  from  New  England, 


LIFE    AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  173 

differing  also ;  professors,  largely  from  Massachusetts, 
yet  differing  much.  And  yet,  after  a  year,  we  can  say 
that  there  has  been  no  very  noisy  jarring  of  the  dis- 
cordant elements ;  small  jostling  has  been  felt,  but  the 
president  has  oiled  the  rough  places,  and  we  have  slid 
over  them. 

"...  Miss  is  a  bigot,  but  a  very  sincere 

one.  She  is  the  most  conservative  person  I  ever  met. 
I  think  her  a  very  good  woman,  a  woman  of  great 
energy.  .  .  .  She  is  very  kind  to  me,  but  had  we 
lived  in  the  colonial  days  of  Massachusetts,  and  had  she 
been  a  power,  she  would  have  burned  me  at  the  stake 
for  heresy ! 

"Yesterday  the  rush  began.  Miss  Lyman  [the  lady 
principal]  had  set  the  twenty  teachers  all  around  in 
different  places,  and  I  was  put  into  the  parlor  to  talk 
to  *  anxious  mothers.' 

"  Miss  Lyman  had  a  hoarse  cold,  but  she  received 
about  two  hundred  students,  and  had  all  their  rooms 
assigned  to  them. 

"While  she  had  one  anxious  mamma,  I  took  two  or 
three,  and  kept  them  waiting  until  she  could  attend  to 
them.  Several  teachers  were  with  me.  I  made  a  rush 
at  the  visitors  as  they  entered,  and  sometimes  I  was  asked 
if  I  were  lady  principal,  and  sometimes  if  I  were  the 
matron.  This  morning  Miss  Lyman's  voice  was  gone. 
She  must  have  seen  five  hundred  people  yesterday. 

"Among  others  there  was  one  Miss  Mitchell,  and,  of 
course,  that  anxious  mother  put  that  girl  under  my 
special  care,  and  she  is  very  bright.  Then  there  were 
two  who  were  sent  with  letters  to  me,  and  several 


1/4  MARIA    MITCHELL 

others  whose  mothers  took  to  me  because  they  were 
frightened  by  Miss  Ly man's  style. 

"  One  lady,  who  seemed  to  be  a  bright  woman,  got 
me  by  the  button  and  held  me  a  long  time  —  she 
wanted  this,  that,  and  the  other  impracticable  thing  for 
the  girl,  and  told  me  how  honest  her  daughter  was  ;  then 
with  a  flood  of  tears  she  said,  '  But  she  is  not  a  Christian. 
I  know  I  put  her  into  good  hands  when  I  put  her  here.' 
(Then  I  was  strongly  tempted  to  avow  my  Unitarian- 
ism.)  Miss  W.,  who  was  standing  by,  said,  '  Miss 
Lyman  will  be  an  excellent  spiritual  adviser,'  and  we 
both  looked  very  serious ;  when  the  mother  wiped  her 
weeping  eyes  and  said,  'And,  Miss  Mitchell,  will  you 
ask  Miss  Lyman  to  insist  that  my  daughter  shall  curl 
her  hair?  She  looks  very  graceful  when  her  hair  is 
curled,  and  I  want  it  insisted  upon/  I  made  a  note  of 
it  with  my  pencil,  and  as  I  happened  to  glance  at  Miss 
W.  the  corners  of  her  mouth  were  twitching,  upon 
which  I  broke  down  and  laughed.  The  mother  bore  it 
very  good-naturedly,  but  went  on.  She  wanted  to 
know  who  would  work  some  buttonholes  in  her  daugh- 
ter's dress  that  was  not  quite  finished,  etc.,  and  it  all 
ended  in  her  inviting  me  to  make  her  a  visit. 

"Oct.  31,  1866.  Our  faculty  meetings  always  try  me 
in  this  respect :  we  do  things  that  other  colleges  have 
done  before.  We  wait  and  ask  for  precedent.  If  the 
earth  had  waited  for  a  precedent,  it  never  would  have 
turned  on  its  axis ! 

"Sept.  22,  1868.  I  have  written  to-day  to  give  up 
the  Nautical  Almanac  work.  I  do  not  feel  sure  that  it 
will  be  for  the  best,  but  I  am  sure  that  I  could  not 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  175 

hold  the  almanac  and  the  college,  and  father  is  happy 
here. 

"  I  tell  Miss  Lyman  that  my  father  is  so  much  pleased 
with  everything  here  that  I  am  afraid  he  will  be  im- 
mersed !  " l 

Only  those  who  knew  Vassar  College  in  its  earlier 
days  can  tell  of  the  life  that  the  father  and  daughter 
led  there  for  four  years. 

Mr.  Mitchell  died  in  1869. 

"Jan.  3,  1868.  Meeting  Dr.  Hill  at  a  private  party, 
I  asked  him  if  Harvard  College  would  admit  girls  in 
fifty  years.  He  said  one  of  the  most  conservative 
members  of  the  faculty  had  said,  within  sixteen  days, 
that  it  would  come  about  in  twenty  years.  I  asked  him 
if  I  could  go  into  one  of  Professor  Peirce's  recitations. 
He  said  there  was  nothing  to  keep  me  out,  and  that 
he  would  let  me  know  when  they  came. 

"  At  eleven  A.M.,  the  next  Friday,  I  stood  at  Professor 
Peirce's  door.  As  the  professor  came  in  I  went  towards 
him,  and  asked  him  if  I  might  attend  his  lecture.  He 
said  '  Yes.'  I  said  '  Can  you  not  say  "  I  shall  be  happy 
to  have  you  "  ?  '  and  he  said  '  I  shall  be  happy  to  have 
you,'  but  he  didn't  look  happy  ! 

"  It  was  with  some  little  embarrassment  that  Mrs. 
K.  and  I  seated  ourselves.  Sixteen  young  men  came 
into  the  room ;  after  the  first  glance  at  us  there  was  not 
another  look,  and  the  lecture  went  on.  Professor  Peirce 
had  filled  the  blackboard  with  formulae,  and  went  on 
developing  them.  He  walked  backwards  and  forwards 

1  Vassar  College,  though  professedly  unsectarian,  was  mainly  under  Baptist 
control. 


176  MARIA    MITCHELL 

all  the  time,  thinking  it  out  as  he  went.  The  students  at 
first  all  took  notes,  but  gradually  they  dropped  off  until 
perhaps  only  half  continued.  When  he  made  simple 
mistakes  they  received  it  in  silence ;  only  one,  that  one 
his  son  (a  tutor  in  college),  remarked  that  he  was  wrong. 
The  steps  of  his  lesson  were  all  easy,  but  of  course  it 
was  impossible  to  tell  whence  he  came  or  whither  he 
was  going. 

"  The  recitation-room  was  very  common-looking  — 
we  could  not  tolerate  such  at  Vassar.  The  forms  and 
benches  of  the  recitation-room  were  better  for  taking 
notes  than  ours  are.) 

"  The  professor  was  polite  enough  to  ask  us  into  the 
senior  class,  but  I  had  an  engagement.  I  asked  him 
if  a  young  lady  presented  herself  at  the  door  he  could 
keep  her  out,  and  he  said  '  No,  and  I  shouldn't.'  I  told 
him  I  would  send  some  of  my  girls. 

"Oct.  15,  1868.  Resolved,  in  case  of  my  outliving 
father  and  being  in  good  health,  to  give  my  efforts  to 
the  intellectual  culture  of  women,  without  regard  to 
salary;  if  possible,  connect  myself  with  liberal  Chris- 
tian institutions,  believing,  as  I  do,  that  happiness  and 
growth  in  this  life  are  best  promoted  by  them,  and  that 
what  is  good  in  this  life  is  good  in  any  life." 

In  August,  1869,  Miss  Mitchell,  with  several  of  her 
Vassar  students,  went  to  Burlington,  la.,  to  observe  the 
total  eclipse  of  the  sun.  She  wrote  a  popular  account 
of  her  observations,  which  was  printed  in  "  Hours  at 
Home"  for  September,  1869.  Her  records  were  pub- 
lished in  Professor  Coffin's  report,  as  she  was  a  member 
of  his  party. 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  177 

"  Sept.  26,  1871.  My  classes  came  in  to-day  for  the 
first  time ;  twenty-five  students  —  more  than  ever  be- 
fore ;  fine,  splendid-looking  girls.  I  felt  almost  frightened 
at  the  responsibility  which  came  into  my  hands  —  of  the 
possible  twist  which  I  might  give  them. 

"1871.  I  never  look  upon  the  mass  of  girls  going 
into  our  dining-room  or  chapel  without  feeling  their 
nobility,  the  sovereignty  of  their  pure  spirit." 

The  following  letter  from  Miss  Mitchell,  though 
written  at  a  later  date,  gives  an  idea  of  the  practical 
observing  done  by  her  classes : 

MY  DEAR  Miss :  I  reply  to  your  questions  concerning  the 

observatory  which  you  propose  to  establish.  And,  first,  let  me  con- 
gratulate you  that  you  begin  small.  A  large  telescope  is  a  great 
luxury,  but  it  is  an  enormous  expense,  and  not  at  all  necessary  for 
teaching.  .  .  .  My  beginning  class  uses  only  a  small  portable 
equatorial.  It  stands  out-doors  from  7  A.M.  to  9  P.M.  The 
girls  are  encouraged  to  use  it :  they  are  expected  to  determine  the 
rotation  of  the  sun  on  its  axis  by  watching  the  spots  —  the  same 
for  the  planet  Jupiter ;  they  determine  the  revolution  of  Titan  by 
watching  its  motions,  the  retrograde  and  direct  motion  of  the 
planets  among  the  stars,  the  position  of  the  sun  with  reference  to 
its  setting  in  winter  and  summer,  the  phases  of  Venus.  All  their 
book  learning  in  astronomy  should  be  mathematical.  The  astron- 
omy which  is  not  mathematical  is  what  is  so  ludicrously  called 
"  Geography  of  the  Heavens  "  —  is  not  astronomy  at  all. 

My  senior  class,  generally  small,  say  six,  is  received  as  a  class, 
but  in  practical  astronomy  each  girl  is  taught  separately.  I  believe 
in  small  classes.  I  instruct  them  separately,  first  in  the  use  of  the 
meridian  instrument,  and  next  in  that  of  the  -equatorial.  They 
obtain  the  time  for  the  college  by  meridian  passage  of  stars ;  they 
use  the  equatorial  just  as  far  as  they  can  do  with  very  insufficient 
mechanism.  We  work  wholly  on  planets,  and  they  are  taught  to 


1 78  MARIA    MITCHELL 

find  a  planet  at  any  hour  of  the  day,  to  make  drawings  of  what 
they  see,  and  to  determine  positions  of  planets  and  satellites. 
With  the  clock  and  chronograph  they  determine  difference  of  right 
ascension  of  objects  by  the  electric  mode  of  recording.  They 
make,  sometimes,  very  accurate  drawings,  and  they  learn  to  know 
the  satellites  of  Saturn  (Titan,  Rhea,  etc.)  by  their  different  physi- 
ognomy, as  they  would  persons.  They  have  sometimes  measured 
diameters. 

If  you  add  to  your  observatory  a  meridian  instrument,  I  should 
advise  a  small  one.  Size  is  not  so  important  as  people  generally 
suppose.  Nicety  and  accuracy  are  what  is  needed  in  all  scientific 
work ;  startling  effects  by  large  telescopes  and  high  powers  are  too 
suggestive  of  sensational  advertisement. 

/ 

The    relation    between    herself  and    her    pupils  was 

quite  remarkable  —  it  was  very  cordial  and  intimate  ;  she 
spoke  of  them  always  as  her  "  girls,"  but  at  the  same 
time  she  required  their  very  best  work,  and  was  intoler- 
ant of  shirking,  or  of  an  ambition  to  do  what  nature 
never  intended  the  girl  in  question  to  do. 

One  of  her  pupils  writes  thus :  "  If  it  were  only 
possible  to  tell  you  of  what  Professor  Mitchell  did  for 
one  of  her  girls  !  '  Her  girls  ! '  It  meant  so  much  to 
come  into  daily  contact  with  such  a  woman  !  There  is 
no  need  of  speaking  of  her  ability ;  the  world  knows 
what  that  was.  But  as  her  class-room  was  unique,  hav- 
ing something  of  home  in  its  belongings,  so  its  atmos- 
phere differed  from  that  of  all  others.  Anxiety  and 
nervous  strain  were  left  outside  of  the  door.  Perhaps 
one  clue  to  her  influence  may  be  found  in  her  remark 
to  the  senior  class  in  astronomy  when  '76  entered  upon 
its  last  year :  '  We  are  women  studying  together.' 

"  Occasionally  it  happened  that  work  requiring  two 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  179 

hours  or  more  to  prepare  called  for  little  time  in  the 
class.  Then  would  come  one  of  those  treats  which  she 
bestowed  so  freely  upon  her  girls,  and  which  seemed  to 
put  them -in  touch  with  the  great  outside  world.  Let- 
ters from  astronomers  in  Europe  or  America,  or  from 
members  of  their  families,  giving  delightful  glimpses 
of  home  life;'  stories  of  her  travels  and  of  visits  to 
famous  people ;  accounts  of  scientific  conventions  and 
of  large  gatherings  of  women,  —  not  so  common  then 
as  now,  —  gave  her  listeners  a  wider  outlook  and  new 
interests. 

"  Professor  Mitchell  was  chairman  of  a  standing  com- 
mittee of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Women,  —  that  on  women's  work  in  science, 
—  and  some  of  her  students  did  their  first  work  for 
women's  organizations  in  gathering  statistics  and  filling 
out  blanks  which  she  distributed  among  them. 

"  The  benefits  derived  from  my  college  course  were 
manifold,  but  time  and  money  would  have  been  well 
spent  had  there  been  no  return  but  that  of  two  years' 
intercourse  with  Maria  Mitchell." 

Another  pupil,  and  later  her  successor  at  Vassar 
College,  Miss  Mary  W.  Whitney,  has  said  of  her 
method  of  teaching  :  "As  a  teacher,  Miss  Mitchell's 
gift  was  that  of  stimulus,  not  that  of  drill.  She  could 
not  drill ;  she  would  not  drive.  But  no  honest  student 
could  escape  the  pressure  of  her  strong  will  and  earnest 
intent.  The  marking  system  she  held  in  contempt,  and 
wished  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  '  You  cannot 
mark  a  human  mind,'  she  said,  '  because  there  is  no 
intellectual  unit;  '  and  upon  taking  up  her  duties  as 


l8o  MARIA    MITCHELL 

professor  she  stipulated  that  she  should  not  be  held 
responsible  for  a  strict  application  of  the  system." 

"July,  1887.  My  students  used  to  say  that  my  way 
of  teaching  was  like  that  of  the  man  who  said  to  his 
son,  'There  are  the  letters  of  the  English  alphabet  — 
go  into  that  corner  and  learn  them.' 

"  It  is  not  exactly  my  way,  but  I  do  think,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  that  teachers  talk  too  much  !  A  book  is  a  very 
good  institution  !  To  read  a  book,  to  think  it  over, 
and  to  write  out  notes  is  a  useful  exercise;  a  book 
which  will  not  repay  some  hard  thought  is  not  worth 
publishing.  The  fashion  of  lecturing  is  becoming  a 
rage ;  the  teacher  shows  herself  off,  and  she  does  not 
try  enough  to  develop  her  pupils. 

"  The  greatest  object  in  educating  is  to  give  a  right 
habit  of  study.  .  .  . 

"  .  .  .  Not  too  much  mechanical  apparatus  —  let 
the  imagination  have  some  play;  a  cube  may  be  shown 
by  a  model,  but  let  the  drawing  upon  the  blackboard 
represent  the  cube ;  and  if  possible  let  Nature  be  the 
blackboard ;  spread  your  triangles  upon  land  and  sky. 

"  One  of  my  pupils  always  threw  her  triangles  on  the 
celestial  vault  above  her  head. 

"  A  small  apparatus  well  used  will  do  wonders.  A 
celebrated  chemist  ordered  his  servant  to  bring  in  the 
laboratory  —  on  a  tray!  Newton  rolled  up  the  cover 
of  a  book ;  he  put  a  small  glass  at  one  end,  and  a  large 
brain  at  the  other  —  it  was  enough. 

"  When  a  student  asks  me,  '  What  specialty  shall  I 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  l8l 

follow?'  I  answer,  'Adopt  some  one,  if  none  draws 
you,  and  wait.'  I  am  confident  that  she  will  find  the 
specialty  engrossing. 

"  Feb.  10,  1887.  When  I  came  to  Vassar,  I  re- 
gretted that  Mr.  Vassar  did  not  give  full  scholarships. 
By  degrees,  I  learned  to  think  his  plan  of  giving  half 
scholarships  better;  and  to-day  I  am  ready  to  say, 
'  Give  no  scholarships  at  all.' 

"  I  find  a  helping-hand  lifts  the  girl  as  crutches  do ; 
she  learns  to  like  the  help  which  is  not  self-help. 

"  If  a  girl  has  the  public  school,  and  wants  enough 
to  learn,  she  will  learn.  It  is  hard,  but  she  was  born  to 
hardness  —  she  cannot  dodge  it.  Labor  is  her  inheri- 
tance. 

"  I  was  born,  for  instance,  incapable  of  appreciating 
music.  I  mourn  it.  Should  I  go  to  a  music-school, 
therefore?  No,  avoid  the  music-school ;  it  is  a  very  ex- 
pensive branch  of  study.  When  the  public  school  has 
taught  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  the  boy  or  girl 
has  his  or  her  tools ;  let  them  use  these  tools,  and  get  a 
few  hours  for  study  every  day. 

"  .  .  .  Do  not  give  educational  aid  to  sickly  young 
people.  The  old  idea  that  the  feeble  young  man  must 
be  fitted  for  the  ministry,  because  the  more  sickly  the 
more  saintly,  has  gone  out.  Health  of  body  is  not  only 
an  accompaniment  of  health  of  mind,  but  is  the  cause ; 
the  converse  may  be  true,  —  that  health  of  mind  causes 
health  of  body;  but  we  all  know  that  intellectual  cheer 
and  vivacity  act  upon  the  mind.  If  the  gymnastic 
exercise  helps  the  mind,  the  concert  or  the  theatre 
improves  the  health  of  the  body. 


1 82  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"Let  the  unfortunate  young  woman  whose  health  is 
delicate  take  to  the  culture  of  the  woods  and  fields,  or 
raise  strawberries,  and  avoid  teaching. 

"  Better  give  a  young  girl  who  is  poor  a  common- 
school  education,  a  little  lift,  and  tell  her  to  work  out 
her  own  career.  If  she  have  a  distaste  to  the  homely 
routine  of  life,  leave  her  the  opportunity  to  try  any 
other  career,  but  let  her  understand  that  she  stands  or 
falls  by  herself. 

"  .  .  .  Not  every  girl  should  go  to  college.  The 
over-burdened  mother  of  a  large  family  has  a  right 
to  be  aided  by  her  daughter's  hands.  I  would  aid  the 
mother  and  not  the  daughter. 

"  I  would  not  put  the  exceptionally  smart  girl  from  a 
very  poor  family  into  college,  unless  she  is  a  genius ; 
and  a  genius  should  wait  some  years  to  prove  her 
genius. 

"  Endow  the  already  established  institution  with 
money.  Endow  the  woman  who  shows  genius  with 
time. 

"  A  case  at  Johns  Hopkins  University  is  an  excellent 
one.  A  young  woman  goes  into  the  institution  who  is 
already  a  scholar ;  she  shows  what  she  can  do,  and  she 
takes  a  scholarship ;  she  is  not  placed  in  a  happy  valley 
of  do  nothing,  —  she  is  put  into  a  workshop,  where  she 
can  work.  .  .  ... 

"...  We  are  all  apt  to  say,  '  Could  we  have  had 
the  opportunity  in  life  that  our  neighbor  had/  —  and 
we  leave  the  unfinished  sentence  to  imply  that  we 
should  have  been  geniuses. 

"  No  one  ever  says,  '  If  I  had  not  had  such  golden 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  183 

opportunities  thrust  upon  me,  I  might  have  developed 
by  a  struggle  '  !  But  why  look  back  at  all?  Why  turn 
your  eyes  to  your  shadow,  when,  by  looking  upward, 
you  see  your  rainbow  in  the  same  direction? 

"  But  our  want  of  opportunity  was  our  opportunity 
—  our  privations  were  our  privileges — our  needs  were 
stimulants;  we  are  what  we  are  because  we  had  little 
and  wanted  much ;  and  it  is  hard  to  tell  which  was  the 
more  powerful  factor.  .•  *  J  »  ^, 

"  Small  aids  to  individuals,  large  aid  to  masses. 

"  The  Russian  Czar  determined  to  found  an  observ- 
atory, and  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  take  a  million 
dollars  from  the  government  treasury.  He  sends  to 
America  to  order  a  thirty-five  inch  telescope  from 
Alvan  Clark,  —  not  to  promote  science,  but  to  surpass 
other  nations  in  the  size  of  his  glass.  '  To  him  that 
hath  shall  be  given.'  Read  it,  'To  him  that  hath 
should  be  given.' 

"  To  give  wisely  is  hard.  I  do  not  wonder  that  the 
millionaire  founds  a  new  college  —  why  should  he  not? 
Millionaires  are  few,  and  he  is  a  man  by  himself — he 
must  have  views,  or  he  could  not  have  earned  a  million. 
But  let  the  man  or  woman  of  ordinary  wealth  seek  out 
the  best  institution  already  started,  —  the  best  girl 
already  in  college,  —  and  give  the  endowment. 

"  I  knew  a  rich  woman  who  wished  to  give  aid  to 
some  girls'  school,  and  she  travelled  in  order  to  find 
that  institution  which  gave  the  most  solid  learning  with 


1 84  MARIA    MITCHELL 

the  least  show.  She  found  it  where  few  would  expect 
it,  —  in  Tennessee.  It  was  -worth  while  to  travel. 

"The  aid  that  comes  need  not  be  money;  let  it  be  a 
careful  consideration  of  the  object,  and  an  evident 
interest  in  the  cause. 

"  When  you  aid  a  teacher,  you  improve  the  educa- 
tion of  your  children.  It  is  'a  wonder  that  teachers 
work  as  Well  as  they  do.  I  never  look  at  a  group  of 
them  without  using,  mentally,  the  expression,  '  The 
noble  army  of  martyrs ' ! 

"The  chemist  should  have  had  a  laboratory,  and  the 
observatory  should  have  had  an  astronomer;  but  we 
are  too  apt  to  bestow  money  where  there  is  no  man, 
and  to  find  a  man  where  there  is  no  money. 

"  If  every  girl  who  is  aided  were  a  very  high  order  of 
scholar,  scholarship  would  undoubtedly  conquer  pov- 
erty; but  a  large  part  of  the  aided  students  are  ordi- 
nary. They  lack,  at  least,  executive  power,  as  their 
ancestors  probably  did.  Poverty  is  a  misfortune ;  mis- 
fortunes are  often  the  result  of  blamable  indiscretion, 
extravagance,  etc. 

"  It  is  one  of  the  many  blessings  of  poverty  that 
one  is  not  obliged  to  '  give  wisely.'  " 

1866.  To  her  students  :  "I  cannot  expect  to  make 
astronomers,  but  I  do  expect  that  you  will  invigorate 
your  minds  by  the  effort  at  healthy  modes  of  thinking. 
.  .  .  When  we  are  chafed  and  fretted  by  small  cares, 
a  look  at  the  stars  will  show  us  the  littleness  of  our 
own  interests. 

"...     But    star-gazing   is    not   science.      The 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  185 

entrance  to  astronomy  is  through  mathematics.  You 
must  make  up  your  mind  to  steady  and  earnest  work. 
You  must  be  content  to  get  on  slowly  if  you  only  get 
on  thoroughly. 

"The  phrase  'popular  science'  has  in  itself  a  touch 
of  absurdity.  That  knowledge  which  is  popular  is  not 
scientific. 

"  The  laws  which  govern  the  motions  of  the  sun,  the 
earth,  planets,  and  other  bodies  in  the  universe,  cannot 
be  understood  and  demonstrated  without  a  solid  basis 
of  mathematical  learning. 

"  Every  formula  which  expresses  a  law  of  nature  is  a 
hymn  of  praise  to  God. 

"  You  cannot  study  anything  persistently  for  years 
without  becoming  learned,  and  although  I  would  not 
hold  reputation  up  to  you  as  a  very  high  object  of 
ambition,  it  is  a  wayside  flower  which  you  are  sure  to 
have  catch  at  your  skirts. 

"  Whatever  apology  other  women  may  have  for  loose, 
ill-finished  work,  or  work  not  finished  at  all,  you  will 
have  none. 

"  When  you  leave  Vassar  College,  you  leave  it  the  best 
educated  women  in  the  world.  Living  a  little  outside 
of  the  college,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  little  currents 
that  go  up  and  down  the  corridors,  I  think  I  am  a  fairer 
judge  of  your  advantages  than  you  can  be  yourselves ; 
and  when  I  say  you  will  be  the  best  educated  women  in 
the  world,  I  do  not  mean  the  education  of  text-books, 
and  class-rooms,  and  apparatus,  only,  but  that  broader 


1 86  MARIA    MITCHELL 

education  which  you  receive  unconsciously,  that  higher 
teaching  which  comes  to  you,  all  unknown  to  the  givers, 
from  daily  association  with  the  noble-souled  women  who 
are  around  you." 

"  1871.  When  astronomers  compare  observations 
made  by  different  persons,  they  cannot  neglect  the 
constitutional  peculiarities  of  the  individuals,  and  there 
enters  into  these  computations  a  quantity  called  '  per- 
sonal equation.'  In  common  terms,  it  is  that  difference 
between  two  individuals  from  which  results  a  difference 
in  the  time  which  they  require  to  receive  and  note  an 
occurrence.  If  one  sees  a  star  at  one  instant,  and 
records  it,  the  record  of  another,  of  the  same  thing,  is 
not  the  same. 

"  It  is  true,  also,  that  the  same  individual  is  not  the 
same  at  all  times ;  so  that  between  two  individuals  there 
is  a  mean  or  middle  individual,  and  each  individual  has 
a  mean  or  middle  self,  which  is  not  the  man  of  to-day, 
nor  the  man  of  yesterday,  nor  the  man  of  to-morrow ; 
but  a  middle  man  among  these  different  selves.  .  .  . 

"  We  especially  need  imagination  in  science.  It  is 
not  all  mathematics,  nor  all  logic,  but  it  is  somewhat 
beauty  and  poetry. 

"  There  will  come  with  the  greater  love  of  science 
greater  love  to  one  another.  Living  more  nearly  to 
Nature  is  living  farther  from  the  world  and  from  its 
follies,  but  nearer  to  the  world's  people ;  it  is  to  be  of 
them,  with  them,  and  for  them,  and  especially  for  their 
improvement.  We  cannot  see  how  impartially  Nature 
gives  of  her  riches  to  all,  without  loving  all,  and  helping 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  187 

all ;  and  if  we  cannot  learn  through  Nature's  laws  the 
certainty  of  spiritual  truths,  we  can  at  least  learn  to  pro- 
mote spiritual  growth  while  we  are  together,  and  live 
in  a  trusting  hope  of  a  greater  growth  in  the  future. 

".  .  .  The  great  gain  would  be  freedom  of  thought. 
Women,  more  than  men,  are  bound  by  tradition  and 
authority.  What  the  father,  the  brother,  the  doctor, 
and  the  minister  have  said  has  been  received  undoubt- 
ingly.  Until  women  throw  off  this  reverence  for 
authority  they  will  not  develop.  When  they  do  this, 
when  they  come  to  truth  through  their  investigations, 
when  doubt  leads  them  to  discovery,  the  truth  which 
they  get  will  be  theirs,  and  their  minds  will  work  on  and 
on  unfettered. 

[1874.]      "  I  am  but  a  woman  ! 

11  For  women  there  are,  undoubtedly,  great  difficulties 
in  the  path,  but  so  much  the  more  to  overcome.  First, 
no  woman  should  say,  *  I  am  but  a  woman !  '  But  a 
woman!  What  more  can  you  ask  to  be? 

"Born  a  woman —  born  with  the  average  brain  of 
humanity —  born  with  more  than  the  average  heart  — 
if  you  are  mortal,  what  higher  destiny  could  you  have? 
No  matter  where  you  are  nor  what  you  are,  you  are  a 
power  —  your  influence  is  incalculable;  personal  in- 
fluence is  always  underrated  by  the  person.  We  are 
all  centres  of  spheres  —  we  see  the  portions  of  the  sphere 
above  us,  and  we  see  how  little  we  affect  it.  We  forget 
the  part  of  the  sphere  around  and  before  us —  it  ex- 
tends just  as  far  every  way. 

"  Another  common  saying, '  It  isn't  the  way,'  etc.  Who 
settles  the  way?  Is  there  any  one  so  forgetful  of  the 


1 88  MARIA    MITCHELL 

sovereignty  bestowed  on  her  by  God  that  she  accepts  a 
leader  —  one  who  shall  capture  her  mind? 

"  There  is  this  great  danger  in  student  life.  Now,  we 
rest  all  upon  what  Socrates  said,  or  what  Copernicus 
taught;  how  can  we  dispute  authority  which  has  come 
down  to  us,  all  established,  for  ages? 

"  We  must  at  least  question  it ;  we  cannot  accept  any- 
thing as  granted,  beyond  the  first  mathematical  form- 
ulae. Question  everything  else. 

' '  The  world  is  round,  and  like  a  ball 
Seems  swinging  in  the  air.'  * 

"  No  such  thing !  the  world  is  not  round,  it  does  not 
swing,  and  it  doesn't  seem  to  swing ! 

"  I  know  I  shall  be  called  heterodox,  and  that  unseen 
lightning  flashes  and  unheard  thunderbolts  will  be  play- 
ing around  my  head,  when  I  say  that  women  will  never 
be  profound  students  in  any  other  department  except 
music  while  they  give  four  hours  a  day  to  the  practice 
of  music.  I  should  by  all  means  encourage  every 
woman  who  is  born  with  musical  gifts  to  study  music ; 
but  study  it  as  a  science  and  an  art,  and  not  as  an 
accomplishment;  and  to  every  woman  who  is  not 
musical,  I  should  say,  '  Don't  study  it  at  all ;  '  you  can- 
not afford  four  hours  a  day,  out  of  some  years  of  your 
life,  just  to  be  agreeable  in  company  upon  possible 
occasions. 

"If  for  four  hours  a  day  you  studied,  year  after*year, 
the  science  of  language,  for  instance,  do  you  suppose 

1  From  Peter  Parley's  Primary  Geography. 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  189 

you  would  not  be  a  linguist?  Do  you  put  the  mere 
pleasing  of  some  social  party,  and  the  reception  of  a 
few  compliments,  against  the  mental  development  of 
four  hours  a  day  of  study  of  something  for  which  you 
were  born? 

"  When  I  see  that  girls  who  are  required  by  their 
parents  to  go  through  with  the  irksome  practising 
really  become  respectable  performers,  I  wonder  what 
four  hours  a  day  at  something  which  they  loved,  and 
for  which  God  designed  them,  would  do  for  them. 

"  I  should  think  that  to  a  real  scientist  in  music  there 
would  be  something  mortifying  in  this  rush  of  all 
women  into  music ;  as  there  would  be  to  me  if  I  saw 
every  girl  learning  the  constellations,  and  then  thinking 
she  was  an  astronomer  ! 

"Jan.  8,  1876.  At  the  meeting  of  graduates  at  the 
Deacon  House,  the  speeches  that  were  made  were 
mainly  those  of  Dr.  R.  and  Professor  B.  I  am  sorry 
now  that  I  did  not  at  least  say  that  the  college  is  what 
it  is  mainly  because  the  early  students  pushed  up  the 
course  to  a  collegiate  standard. 

"Jan.  25,  1876.  It  has  become  a  serious  question 
with  me  whether  it  is  not  my  duty  to  beg  money  for 
the  observatory,  while  what  I  really  long  for  is  a  quiet 
life  of  scientific  speculation.  I  want  to  sit  down  and 
study  on  the  observations  made  by  myself  and  others." 

During  her  later  years  at  Vassar,  Miss  Mitchell 
interested  herself  personally  in  raising  a  fund  to  endow 
the  chair  of  astronomy.  In  March,  1886,  she  wrote: 
"  I  have  been  in  New  York  quite  lately,  and  am  quite 
hopeful  that  Miss will  do  something  for  Vassar. 


190  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Mrs.  C,  of  Newburyport,  is  to  ask  Whittier,  who  is  said 

to  be  rich,  and told  me  to  get  anything  I  could  out 

of  her  father.     But  after  all  I  am  a  poor  beggar ;  my 
ideas  are  small !  " 

Since  Miss  Mitchell's  death,  the  fund  has  been  com- 
pleted by  the  alumnae,  and  is  known  as  the  Maria 
Mitchell  Endowment  Fund.  With  $10,000  appro- 
priated by  the  trustees  it  amounts  to  $50,000. 

"June  1 8,  1876.  I  had  imagined  the  Emperor  of 
Brazil  to  be  a  dark,  swarthy,  tall  man,  of  forty-five 
years;  that  he  would  not  really  have  a  crown  upon  his 
head,  but  that  I  should  feel  it  was  somewhere  around, 
handy-like,  and  that  I  should  know  I  was  in  royal 
presence.  But  he  turns  out  to  be  a  large,  old  man,  — 
say,  sixty-five,  —  broad-headed  and  broad-shouldered, 
with  a  big  white  beard,  and  a  very  pleasant,  even  chatty, 
manner. 

"Once  inside  of  the  dome,  he  seemed  to  feel  at 
home;  to  my  astonishment  he  asked  if  Alvan  Clark 
made  the  glass  of  the  equatorial.  As  he  stepped  into 
the  meridian-room,  and  saw  the  instruments,  he  said, 
'  Collimators?'  I  said,  *  You  have  been  in  observa- 
tories before.'  '  Oh,  yes,  Cambridge  and  Washington,' 
he  replied.  He  seemed  much  more  interested  in  the 
observatory  than  I  could  possibly  expect.  I  asked  him 
to  go  on  top  of  the  roof,  and  he  said  he  had  not 
time;  yet  he  stayed  long  enough  to  go  up  several 
times.  I  am  told  that  he  follows  out,  remarkably,  his 
own  ideas  as  to  his  movements." 

In  1878,  Miss  Mitchell  went  to  Denver,  Colorado,  to 
observe  the  total  eclipse  of  the  sun.  She  was  accom- 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  IQI 

panied  by  several  of  her  former  pupils.  She  prepared 
an  account  of  this  eclipse,  which  will  be  found  in 
Chapter  XI. 

"  Aug.  20,  1878.  Dr.  Raymond  [President  of  Vassar 
College]  is  dead.  I  cannot  quite  take  it  in.  I  have 
never  known  the  college  without  him,  and  it  will  make 
all  things  different. 

"  Personally,  I  have  always  been  fond  of  him ;  he  was 
very  enjoyable  socially  and  intellectually.  Officially  he 
was,  in  his  relations  to  the  students,  perfect.  He  was 
cautious  to  a  fault,  and  has  probably  been  very  wise  in 
his  administration  of  college  affairs.  He  was  broad  in 
his  religious  views.  He  was  not  broad  in  his  ideas 
of  women,  and  was  made  to  broaden  the  education  of 
women  by  the  women  around  him. 

"  June  1 8,  1 88 1.  The  dome  party  to-day  was  sixty- 
two  in  number.  It  was  breakfast,  and  we  opened  the 
dome ;  we  seated  forty  in  the  dome  and  twenty  in  the 
meridian-room." 

This  "  dome  party"  requires  a  few  words  of  explana- 
tion, because  it  was  unique  among  all  the  Vassar 
festivities.  The  week  before  commencement,  Miss 
Mitchell's  pupils  would  be  informed  of  the  approach- 
ing gathering  by  a  notice  like  the  following : 

CIRCULAR. 

The  annual  dome  party  will  be  held  at  the  observatory  on  Satur- 
day, the  igth,  at  6  P.M.  You  are  cordially  invited  to  be  present. 

M.  M. 

[As  this  gathering  is  highly  intellectual,  you  are  invited  to  bring 
poems.] 


192  MARIA    MITCHELL 

It  was,  at  first,  held  in  the  evening,  but  during  the 
last  years  was  a  breakfast  party,  its  character  in  other 
respects  remaining  the  same.  Little  tables  were  spread 
under  the  dome,  around  the  big  telescope ;  the  flowers 
were  roses  from  Miss  Mitchell's  own  garden.  The 
"  poems  "  were  nonsense  rhymes,  in  the  writing  of  which 
Miss  Mitchell  was  an  adept.  Each  student  would  have 
a  few  verses  of  a  more  or  less  personal  character, 
written  by  Miss  Mitchell,  and  there  were  others  written 
by  the  girls  themselves;  some  were  impromptu  ;  others 
were  set  to  music,  and  sung  by  a  selected  glee-club. 

"June  5,  1 88 1.  We  have  written  what  we  call  our 
dome  poetry.  Some  nice  poems  have  come  in  to  us.  I 
think  the  Vassar  girls,  in  the  main,  are  magnificent, 
they  are  so  all-alive. 

"  May  20,  1882.  Vassar  is  getting  pretty.  I  gathered 
lilies  of  the  valley  this  morning.  The  young  robins  are 
out  in  a  tree  close  by  us,  and  the  phcebe  has  built,  as 
usual,  under  the  front  steps. 

"  I  am  rushing  dome  poetry,  but  so  far  show  no  alarm- 
ing symptoms  of  brilliancy." 

A  former  student  writes  as  follows  about  the  dome 
poetry : 

"  At  the  time  it  was  read,  though  it  seemed  mere 
merry  nonsense,  it  really  served  a  more  serious  purpose 
in  the  work  of  one  who  did  nothing  aimlessly.  This 
apparent  nonsense  served  as  the  vehicle  to  convey  an 
expression  of  approbation,  affection,  criticism,  or  dis- 
approval in  such  a  merry  mode  that  even  the  bitterest 
draught  seemed  sweet." 

"1881,  July  5.      We  left    Vassar,  June  24,  on    the 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE  193 

steamer  '  Galatea,'  from  New  York  to  Providence.  I 
looked  out  of  my  state-room  window,  and  saw  a  strange- 
looking  body  in  the  northern  sky.  My  heart  sank ;  I 
knew  instantly  that  it  was  a  comet,  and  that  I  must 
return  to  the  observatory.  Calling  the  young  people 
around  me,  and  pointing  it  out  to  them,  I  had  their 
assurance  that  it  was  a  comet,  and  nothing  but  a  comet. 

"  We  went  to  bed  at  nine,  and  I  arose  at  six  in  the 
morning.  As  soon  as  I  could  get  my  nieces  started 
for  Providence,  I  started  for  Stonington,  —  the  most 
easy  of  the  ways  of  getting  to  New  York,  as  I  should 
avoid  Point  Judith. 

"  I  went  to  the  boat  at  the  Stonington  wharf  about 
noon,  and  remained  on  board  until  morning  —  there 
were  few  passengers,  it  was  very  quiet,  and  I  slept  well. 

"  Arriving  in  New  York,  I  took  cars  at  9  A.M.  for 
Poughkeepsie,  and  reached  the  college  at  dinner-time. 
I  went  to  work  the  same  evening. 

"  As  I  could  not  tell  at  what  time  the  comet  would 
pass  the  meridian,  I  stationed  myself  at  the  telescope  in 
the  meridian-room  by  10  P.M.,  and  watched  for  the 
comet  to  cross.  As  it  approached  the  meridian,  I  saw 
that  it  would  go  behind  a  scraggy  apple-tree.  I  sent 
for  the  watchman,  Mr.  Crumb,  to  come  with  a  saw,  and 
cut  off  the  upper  limbs.  He  came  back  with  an  axe, 
and  chopped  away  vigorously ;  but  as  one  limb  after 
another  fell,  and  I  said,  '  I  need  more,  cut  away,'  he 
said,  '  I  think  I  must  cut  down  the  whole  tree.'  I  said, 
'  Cut  it  down.'  I  felt  the  barbarism  of  it,  but  I  felt 
more  that  a  bird  might  have  a  nest  in  it. 

"  I  found,  when  I  went  to  breakfast  the  next  morning, 


194  MARIA    MITCHELL 

that  the  story  had  preceded  me,  and  I  was  called 
'  George  Washington.' 

"  But  for  all  this,  I  got  almost  no  observation ;  the 
fog  came  up,  and  I  had  scarcely  anything  better  than 
an  estimation.  I  saw  the  comet  blaze  out,  just  on  the 
edge  of  the  field,  and  I  could  read  its  declination  only. 

"  On  the  28th,  29th,  and  July  1st,  I  obtained  good 
meridian  passages,  and  the  R.A.  must  be  very  good. 

"Jan.  12,  1882.  There  is  a  strange  sentence  in  the 
last  paragraph  of  Dr.  Jacobi's  article  on  the  study  of 
medicine  by  women,  to  the  effect  that  it  would  be 
better  for  the  husband  always  to  be  superior  to  the 
wife.  Why?  And  if  so,  does  not  it  condemn  the  ablest 
women  to  a  single  life? 

"March  13,  1882,  3  P.M.  I  start  for  faculty,  and 
we  probably  shall  elect  what  are  called  the  '  honor 
girls.'  I  dread  the  struggle  that  is  pretty  certain  to 
come.  Each  of  us  has  some  favorite  whom  she  wishes 
to  put  into  the  highest  class,  and  whom  she  honestly 
believes  to  be  of  the  highest  order  of  merit.  I  never 
have  the  whole  ten  to  suit  me,  but  I  can  truly  say 
that  at  this  minute  I  do  not  care.  I  should  be  sorry 
not  to  see  S.,  and  W.,  and  P.,  and  E.,  and  G.,  and  K. 
on  the  list  of  the  ten,  but  probably  that  is  more  than  I 
ought  to  expect.  The  whole  system  is  demoralizing 
and  foolish.  Girls  study  for  prizes  and  not  for  learn- 
ing, when  '  honors '  are  at  the  end.  The  unscholarly 
motive  is  wearing.  If  they  studied  for  sound  learning, 
the  cheer  which  would  come  with  every  day's  gain 
would  be  health-preserving. 

"  .     .     .     I  have  seven  advanced    students,  and  to- 


LIFE   AT    VASSAR    COLLEGE.  195 

day,  when  I  looked  around  to  see  who  should  be  called 
to  help  look  out  for  meteors,  I  could  consider  only  one 
of  them  not  already  overworked,  and  she  was  the  post- 
graduate, who  took  no  honors,  and  never  hurried,  and 
has  always  been  an  excellent  student. 

" .  .  .  We  are  sending  home  some  girls  already 
[November  14],  and is  among  them.  I  am  some- 
what alarmed  at  the  dropping  down,  but  does 

an  enormous  amount  of  work,  belongs  to  every  club, 
and  writes  for  every  club  and  for  the  '  Vassar  Mis- 
cellany,' etc. ;  of  course  she  has  the  headache  most  of 
the  time. 

"Sometimes  I  am  distressed  for  fear  Dr.  Clarke1  is 
not  so  far  wrong ;  but  I  do  not  think  it  is  the  study  —  it 
is  the  morbid  conscientiousness  of  the  girls,  who  think 
they  must  work  every  minute. 

"  April  26,  1882.  Miss  Herschel  came  to  the  college 
on  the  nth,  and  stayed  three  days.  She  is  one  of  the 
little  girls  whom  I  saw,  twenty-three  years  since,  playing 
on  the  lawn  at  Sir  John  Herschel's  place,  Collingwood. 

"  .  .  .  Miss  Herschel  was  just  perfect  as  a  guest; 
she  fitted  in  beautifully.  The  teachers  gave  a  reception 
for  her, gave  her  his  poem,  and  Henry,  the  gar- 
dener, found  out  that  the  man  in  whose  employ  he  lost 
a  finger  was  her  brother-in-law,  in  Leeds ! 

"Jan.  9,  1884.  Mr.  [Matthew]  Arnold  has  been  to 
the  college,  and  has  given  his  lecture  on  Emerson. 
The  audience  was  made  up  of  three  hundred  students, 
and  three  hundred  guests  from  town.  Never  was  a  man 
listened  to  with  so  much  attention.  Whether  he  is  right 

1  Author  of  "  Sex  in  Education." 


196  MARIA    MITCHELL 

in  his  judgment  or  not,  he  held  his  audience  by  his 
manly  way,  his  kindly  dissection,  and  his  graceful 
English.  Socially,  he  charmed  us  all.  He  chatted  with 
every  one,  he  smiled  on  all.  He  said  he  was  sorry  to 
leave  the  college,  and  that  he  felt  he  must  come  to 
America  again.  We  have  not  had  such  an  awakening 
for  years.  It  was  like  a  new  volume  of  old  English 
poetry. 

"March  16,  1885.  In  February,  1831,  I  counted 
seconds  for  father,  who  observed  the  annular  eclipse  at 
Nantucket.  I  was  twelve  and  a  half  years  old.  In 
1885,  fifty-four  years  later,  I  counted  seconds  for  a 
class  of  students  at  Vassar ;  it  was  the  same  eclipse,  but 
the  sun  was  only  about  half-covered.  Both  days  were 
perfectly  clear  and  cold." 


SECOND    EUROPEAN   TOUR  197 


CHAPTER    X 

1873 

SECOND    EUROPEAN     TOUR— RUSSIA FRANCES    POWER    COBBE 

"  THE    GLASGOW    COLLEGE    FOR    GIRLS  " 

IN  1873,  Miss  Mitchell  spent  the  summer  in  Europe, 
and  availed  herself  of  this  oppo-tunity  to  visit  the 
government  observatory  at  Pulkova,  in  Russia. 

"Eydkuhnen,  Wednesday,  July  30,  1873.  Certainly, 
I  never  in  my  life  expected  to  spend  twenty- 
four  hours  in  this  small  town,  the  frontier  town 
of  Prussia.  Here  I  remembered  that  our  little  bags 
would  be  examined,  and  I  asked  the  guard  about  it, 
but  he  said  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves ;  we  should 
not  be  examined  until  we  reached  the  first  Russian 
town  of  Wiersbelow.  So,  after  a  mile  more  of  travel, 
we  came  to  Wiersbelow.  Knowing  that  we  should 
keep  our  little  compartment  until  we  got  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, we  had  scattered  our  luggage  about;  gloves 
were  in  one  place,  veil  in  another,  shawl  in  another, 
parasol  in  another,  and  books  all  around. 

"  The  train  stopped.  Imagine  our  consternation ! 
Two  officials  entered  the  carriage,  tall  Russians  in  full 
uniform,  and  seized  everything  —  shawls,  books,  gloves, 
bags ;  and  then,  looking  around  very  carefully,  espied 
W's  poor  little  ragged  handkerchief,  and  seized  that,  too, 
as  a  contraband  article !  We  looked  at  one  another, 


198  MARIA    MITCHELL 

and  said  nothing.  The  tall  Russian  said  something  to 
us ;  we  looked  at  each  other  and  sat  still.  The  tall 
Russians  looked  at  one  another,  and  there  was  almost 
an  official  smile  between  them. 

"  Then  one  turned  to  me,  and  said,  very  distinctly, 
' Passy-port.'  'Oh/  I  said,  'the  passports  are  all  right; 
where  are  they?'  and  we  produced  from  our  pockets 
the  passports  prepared  at  Washington,  with  the  official 
seal,  and  we  delivered  them  with  a  sort  of  air  as  if  we 
had  said,  '  You'll  find  that  they  do  things  all  right  at 
Washington.' 

"  The  tall  Russians  got  out,  and  I  was  about  to  breathe 
freely,  when  they  returned,  and  said  something  else  — 
not  a  word  did  I  understand  ;  they  exchanged  a  look  of 
amusement,  and  W.  and  I,  one  of  amazement;  then  one 
of  them  made  signs  to  us  to  get  out.  The  sign  was 
unmistakable,  and  we  got  out,  and  followed  them  into 
an  immense  room,  where  were  tables  all  around 
covered  with  luggage,  and  about  a  hundred  travellers 
standing  by;  and  our  books,  shawls,  gloves,  etc.,  were 
thrown  in  a  heap  upon  one  of  these  tables,  and  we 
awoke  to  the  disagreeable  consciousness  that  we  were 
in  a  custom-house,  and  only  two  out  of  a  hundred 
travellers,  and  that  we  did  not  understand  one  word  of 
Russian. 

"  But,  of  course,  it  could  be  only  a  few  minutes  of 
delay,  and  if  German  and  French  failed,  there  is  always 
left  the  language  of  signs,  and  all  would  be  right. 

"  After,  perhaps,  half  an  hour,  two  or  three  officials 
approached  us,  and,  holding  the  passports,  began  to 
talk  to  us.  How  did  they  know  that  those  two  pass- 


SECOND    EUROPEAN   TOUR  199 

ports  belonged  to  us  ?  Out  of  two  hundred  persons,  how 
could  they  at  once  see  that  the  woman  whose  age  was 
given  at  more  than  half  a  century,  and  the  lad  whose 
age  was  given  at  less  than  a  score  of  years,  were  the 
two  fatigued  and  weary  travellers  who  stood  guarding 
a  small  heap  of  gloves,  books,  handkerchiefs,  and 
shawls?  Two  of  the  officials  held  up  the  passports  to 
us,  pointed  to  the  blank  page,  shook  their  heads  omi- 
nously; the  third  took  the  passports,  put  them  into  his 
vest  pocket,  buttoned  up  his  coat,  and  motioned  to  us 
to  follow  him. 

"We  followed;  he  opened  the  door  of  an  ordinary 
carriage,  waved  his  hand  for  us  to  get  in,  jumped  in 
himself,  and  we  found  we  were  started  back.  We  could 
not  cross  the  line  between  Germany  and  Russia. 

"  We  meekly  asked  where  we  were  to  go,  and  were 
relieved  when  we  found  that  we  went  back  only  to  the 
nearest  town,  but  that  the  passports  must  be  sent  to 
Konigsberg,  sixty  miles  away,  to  be  endorsed  by  the 
Russian  ambassador  — •  it  might  take  some  days.  W. 
was  very  much  inclined  to  refuse  to  go  back  and  to 
attempt  a  war  of  words,  but  it  did  not  seem  wise  to  me 
to  undertake  a  war  against  the  Russian  government;  I 
know  our  country  does  not  lightly  go  into  an  'unpleas- 
antness '  of  that  kind.  .  .  .  : 

"  So  we  went  back  to  Eydkuhnen,  —  a  little  miserable 
German  village.  We  took  rooms  at  the  only  hotel,  and 
there  we  stayed  twenty-four  hours.  Before  the  end  of 
that  time,  we  had  visited  every  shop  in  the  village,  and 
aired  our  German  to  most-of  our  fellow-travellers  whom 
we  met  at  the  hotel. 


200  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  The  landlord  took  our  part,  and  declared  it  was 
hard  enough  on  simple  travellers  like  ourselves  to  be 
stopped  in  such  a  way,  and  that  Russia  was  the  only 
country  in  Europe  which  was  rigid  in  that  respect. 
Happily,  our  passports  were  back  in  twenty-four  hours, 
and  we  started  again ;  our  trunks  had  been  registered 
for  St.  Petersburg,  and  to  St.  Petersburg  they  had 
gone,  ahead  of  us;  and  of  the  small  heap  of  things 
thrown  down  promiscuously  at  the  custom-house,  the 
whole  had  not  come  back  to  us  —  it  was  not  very  im- 
portant. I  learned  how  to  wear  one  glove  instead  of 
two,  or  to  go  without. 

"We  had  the  ordeal  of  the  custom-house  to  pass 
again ;  but  once  passed,  and  told  that  we  were  free  to  go 
on,  it  was  like  going  into  a  clear  atmosphere  from  a 
fog.  We  crossed  the  custom-house  threshold  into 
another  room,  and  we  found  ourselves  in  Russia,  and 
in  an  excellent,  well- furnished,  and  cheery  restaurant. 
We  lost  the  German  smoke  and  the  German  beer ;  we 
found  hot  coffee  and  clean  tal?le-cloths. 

"We  did  not  return  to  our  dusty,  red-velvet  palace, 
but  we  entered  a  clean,  comfortable  compartment,  with 
easy  sofas,  for  the  night.  We  started  again  for  St. 
Petersburg;  we  were  now  four  days  from  London.  I 
will  omit  the  details  of  a  break-down  that  night,  and 
another  change  of  cars.  We  had  some  sleep,  and  awoke 
in  the  morning  to  enjoy  Russia. 

"  And,  first,  of  Russian  railroads.  When  the  railroads 
of  Russia  were  planned,  the  Emperor  Nicholas  allowed 
a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  building.  The  engineer 
showed  him  his  plan.  The  road  wound  by  slight 


SECOND    EUROPEAN   TOUR  2OI 

curves  from  one  town  to  another.  This  did  not  suit 
the  emperor  at  all.  He  took  his  ruler,  put  it  down 
upon  the  table,  and  said :  '  I  choose  to  have  my  roads 
run  so.'  Of  course  the  engineer  assented  —  he  had 
his  large  fund  granted ;  a  straight  road  was  much 
cheaper  to  build  than  a  curved  one.  As  a  consequence, 
he  built  and  furnished  an  excellent  road. 

"  At  every  '  verst,'  which  is  not  quite  a  mile,  a  small 
house  is  placed  at  the  roadside,  on  which,  in  very  large 
figures,  the  number  of  versts  from  St.  Petersburg  is 
told.  The  train  runs  very  smoothly  and  very  slowly; 
twenty  miles  an  hour  is  about  the  rate.  Of  course  the 
journey  seemed  long.  For  a  large  part  of  the  way  it 
was  an  uninhabited,  level  plain ;  so  green,  however,  that 
it  seemed  like  travelling  on  prairies.  Occasionally  we 
passed  a  dreary  little  village  of  small  huts,  and  as  we 
neared  St.  Petersburg  we  passed  larger  and  better 
built  towns,  which  the  dome  of  some  cathedral  lighted 
up  for  miles. 

"The  road  was  enlivened,  too,  by  another  peculiarity. 
The  restaurants  were  all  adorned  by  flags  of  all  colors, 
and  festooned  by  vines.  At  one  place  the  green  arches 
ran  across  the  road,  and  we  passed  under  a  bower  of 
evergreens.  I  accepted  this,  at  first,  as  a  Russian  pe- 
culiarity, and  was  surprised  that  so  much  attention  was 
paid  to  travellers ;  but  I  learned  that  it  was  not  for  us 
at  all.  The  Duke  of  Edinboro'  had  passed  over  the 
road  a  few  days  before,  on  his  way  to  St.  Petersburg, 
for  his  betrothal  to  the  only  daughter  of  the  czar,  and 
the  decorations  were  for  him ;  and  so  we  felt  that  we 
were  of  the  party,  although  we  had  not  been  asked. 


202  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"We  approached  St.  Petersburg  just  at  night,  and 
caught  the  play  of  the  sunlight  on  the  domes.  It  is  a 
city  of  domes  —  blue  domes,  green  domes,  white  domes, 
and,  above  all,  the  golden  dome  of  the  Cathedral  of  St. 
Isaac's. 

"  It  is  almost  never  a  single  dome.  St.  Isaac's  central, 
gilded  dome  looms  ,  up  above  its  fellow  domes,  but 
four  smaller  ones  surround  it. 

"  It  was  summer ;  the  temperature  was  delightful, 
about  like  our  October.  The  showers  were  frequent, 
there  was  no  dust  and  no  sultry  air. 

"  There  must  be  a  great  deal  of  nice  mechanical  work 
required  in  St.  Petersburg,  for  on  the  Nevsky  Perspec- 
tive, the  principal  street,  there  were  a  great  many 
shops  in  which  graduating  and  measuring  instruments 
of  very  nice  workmanship  were  for  sale.  Especially 
I  noticed  the  excellence  of  the  thermometers,  and  I 
naturally  stopped  to  read  them.  Figures  are  a  com- 
mon language,  but  it  was  clear  that  I  was  in  another 
planet;  I  could  not  read  the  thermometers!  I  judged 
that  the  weather  was  warm  enough  for  the  thermometer 
to  be  at  68.  I  read,  say,  16.  And  then  I  remem- 
bered that  the  Russians  do  not  put  their  freezing  point 
at  32,  as  we  do,  and  I  was  obliged  to  go  through  a 
troublesome  calculation  before  I  could  tell  how  warm 
it  was. 

"  But  I  came  to  a  still  stranger  experience.  I  dated 
my  letters  August  3,  and  went  to  my  banker's,  before 
I  sealed  them,  to  see  if  there  were  letters  for  me.  The 
banker's  little  calendar  was  hanging  by  his  desk,  and 
the  day  of  the  month  was  on  exhibition,  in  large 


SECOND    EUROPEAN   TOUR  203 

figures.  I  read,  July  22  !  This  was  distressing  !  Was 
I  like  Alice  in  Wonderland?  Did  time  go  backward? 
Surely,  I  had  dated  August  3.  Could  I  be  in  error 
twelve  days?  And  then  I  perceived  that  twelve  days 
was  just  the  difference  of  old  and  new  calendars. 

"  How  many  times  I  had  taught  students  that  the 
Russians  still  counted  their  time  by  the  '  old  style,'  but 
had  never  learned  it  myself!  And  so  I  was  obliged  to 
teach  myself  new  lessons  in  science.  The  earth  turns 
on  its  axis  just  the  same  in  Russia  as  in  Boston,  but 
you  don't  get  out  of  the  sunlight  at  the  Boston  sunset 
hour. 

"When  the  thermometer  stands  at  32  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, it  does  not  freeze  as  it  does  in  Boston.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  very  warm  in  St.  Petersburg,  for  it 
means  what  104  does  in  Boston.  And  if  you  leave 
London  on  the  22d  of  July,  and  are  five  days  on  the 
way  to  St.  Petersburg,  a  week  after  you  get  there  it 
is  still  the  22d  of  July!  And  we  complain  that  the 
day  is  too  short ! 

"  Another  peculiarity.  We  strolled  over  the  city  all 
day;  we  came  back  to  our  hotel  tired;  we  took  our 
tea;  we  talked  over  the  day;  we  wrote  to  our  friends ; 
we  planned  for  the  next  day;  we  were  ready  to  retire. 
We  walked  to  the  window —  the  sun  was  striking  on  all 
the  chimney  tops.  It  doesn't  seem  to  be  right  even 
for  the  lark  to  go  to  sleep  while  the  sun  shines.  We 
looked  at  our  watches ;  but  the  watches  said  nine 
o'clock,  and  we  went  off  to  our  beds  in  daytime ;  and 
we  awoke  after  the  first  nap  to  perceive  that  the  sun 
still  shone  into  the  room. 


204  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  Like  all  careful  aunts,  I  was  unwilling  that  my 
nephew  should  be  out  alone  at  night.  He  was  desirous 
of  doing  the  right  thing,  but  urged  that  at  home,  as  a 
little  boy,  he  was  always  allowed  to  be  out  until  dark, 
and  he  asked  if  he  could  stay  out  until  dark  !  Alas  for 
the  poor  lad  !  There  was  no  dark  at  all !  I  could  not 
consent  for  him  to  be  out  all  night,  and  the  twilight 
was  not  over.  You  may  read  and  read  that  the  sum- 
mer day  at  St.  Petersburg  is  twenty  hours  long,  but 
until  you  see  that  the  sun  scarcely  sets,  you  cannot  take 
it  in. 

"  I  wondered  whether  the  laboring  man  worked  eight 
or  ten  hours  under  my  window;  it  seemed  to  me  that 
he  was  sawing  wood  the  whole  twenty-four  ! 

"  W.  came  in  one  night  after  a  stroll,  and  described  a 
beautiful  square  which  he  had  come  upon  accidentally. 
I  listened  with  great  interest,  and  said,  '  I  must  go  there 
in  the  morning;  what  is  the  name  of  it?'  —  'I  don't 
know,'  he  replied.  —  '  Why  didn't  you  read  the  sign  ?  '  I 
asked.  —  *  I  can't  read,'  was  the  reply.  — '  Oh,  no  ;  but 
why  didn't  you  ask  some  one?'  —  'I  can't  speak,'  he 
answered.  Neither  reading  nor  speaking,  we  had  to 
learn  St.  Petersburg  by  our  observation,  and  it  is  the 
best  way.  Most  travellers  read  too  much. 

"There  are  learned  institutions  in  St.  Petersburg: 
universities,  libraries,  picture-galleries,  and  museums; 
but  the  first  institution  with  which  I  became  acquainted 
was  the  drosky.  The  drosky  is  a  very,  very  small 
phaeton.  It  has  the  driver's  seat  in  front,  and  a  very 
narrow  seat  behind  him.  One  person  can  have  room 
enough  on  this  second  seat,  but  it  usually  carries  two. 


SECOND    EUROPEAN   TOUR  205 

Invariably  the  drosky  is  lined  with  dark-blue  cloth, 
and  the  drosky-driver  wears  a  dark-blue  wrapper,  com- 
ing to  the  feet,  girded  around  the  waist  by  a  crimson 
sash.  He  also  wears  a  bell-shaped  hat,  turned  up  at 
the  side.  You  are  a  little  in  doubt,  if  you  see  him  at 
first  separated  from  his  drosky,  whether  he  is  a  market- 
woman  or  a  serving-man,  the  dress  being  very  much 
like  a  morning  wrapper.  But  he  is  rarely  six  feet  away 
from  his  carriage,  and  usually  he  is  upon  it,  sound 
asleep ! 

"The  trunks  having  gone  to  St.  Petersburg  in 
advance  of  ourselves,  our  first  duty  was  to  get  pos- 
session of  them.  They  were  at  the  custom-house, 
across  the  city.  My  nephew  and  I  jumped  upon  a 
drosky  —  we  could  not  say  that  we  were  really  in  the 
drosky,  for  the  seat  was  too  short.  The  drosky-driver 
started  off  his  horse  over  the  cobble-stones  at  a  terrible 
rate.  I  could  not  keep  my  seat,  and  I  clung  to  W. 
He  shouted,  '  Don't  hold  by  me ;  I  shall  be  out  the  next 
minute  !  '  What  could  be  done?  I  was  sure  I  shouldn't 
stay  on  half  a  minute.  Blessings  on  the  red  sash  of  the 
drosky-man  —  I  caught  at  that !  He  drove  faster  and 
faster,  and  I  clung  tighter  and  tighter,  but  alarmed 
at  two  immense  dangers :  first,  that  I  should  stop  his 
breath  by  dragging  the  girdle  so  tightly ;  and,  next,  that 
when  it  became  unendurable  to  him,  he  would  loosen 
it  in  front. 

"  I  could  not  perceive  that  he  was  aware  of  my  exist- 
ence at  all !  He  had  only  one  object  in  life,  —  to  carry 
us  across  the  city  to  our  place  of  destination,  and  to  get 
his  copecks  in  return. 


206  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  In  a  few  days  I  learned  to  like  the  jolly  vehicles 
very  much.  They  are  so  numerous  that  you  may 
pick  one  up  on  any  street,  whenever  you  are  tired  of 
walking. 

"  My  principal  object  in  visiting  St.  Petersburg  was 
the  astronomical  observatory  at  Pulkova,  some  twelve 
miles  distant. 

"I  had  letters  to  the  director,  Otto  von  Struve,  but 
our  consul  declared  that  I  must  also  have  one  from 
him,  for  Struve  was  a  very  great  man.  I,  of  course, 
accepted  it. 

"  We  made  the  journey  by  rail  and  coach,  but  it 
would  be  better  to  drive  the  whole  way. 

"  Most  observatories  are  temples  of  silence,  and  quiet 
reigns.  As  we  drove  into  the  grounds  at  Pulkova,  a 
small  crowd  of  children  of  all  ages,  and  servants  of  all 
degrees,  came  out  to  meet  us.  They  did  not  come  out 
to  do  us  honor,  but  to  gaze  at  us.  I  could  not  under- 
stand it  until  I  learned  that  the  director  of  the  observa- 
tory has  a  large  number  of  aids,  and  they,  with  all  their 
families,  live  in  large  houses,  connected  with  the  central 
building  by  covered  ways. 

"  All  about  the  grounds,  too,  were  small  observa- 
tories,—  little  temples,  —  in  which  young  men  were 
practising  for  observations  on  the  transit  of  Venus. 
These  little  buildings,  I  afterwards  learned,  were  to  be 
taken  down  and  transported,  instruments  and  all,  to  the 
coast  of  Asia. 

"  The  director  of  the  observatory  is  Otto  Struve  — 
his  father,  Wilhelm  Struve,  preceded  him  in  this  office. 
Properly,  the  director  is  Herr  Von  Struve ;  but  the  old 


SECOND    EUROPEAN   JOUR  2O/ 

Russian  custom  is  still  in  use,  and  the  servants  call  him 
Wilhelm-vitch  ;  that  is,  '  the  son  of  William.' 

"  When  I  bought  a  photograph  of  the  present 
emperor,  Alexander,  I  saw  that  he  was  called  Nicholas- 
vitch. 

"  Herr  Struve  received  us  courteously,  and  an  assistant 
was  called  to  show  us  the  instruments.  All  observa- 
tories are  much  alike ;  therefore  I  will  not  describe  this, 
except  in  its  peculiarities.  One  of  these  was  the  pres- 
ence of  small,  light,  portable  rooms,  i.e.,  baseless  boxes, 
which  rolled  over  the  instruments  to  protect  them ; 
two  sides  were  of  wood,  and  two  sides  of  green  silk 
curtains,  which  could,  of  course,  be  turned  aside  when 
the  boxes,  or  little  rooms,  were  rolled  over  the  appa- 
ratus. Being  covered  in  this  way,  the  heavy  shutters 
can  be  left  open  for  weeks  at  a  time. 

"  Everything  was  on  a  large  scale  —  the  rooms  were 
immense. 

"  The  director  has  three  assistants  who  are  called 
'  elder  astronomers,'  and  two  who  are  called  '  adjunct 
astronomers.'  Each  of  these  has  a  servant  devoted  to 
him.  I  asked  one  of  the  elder  astronomers  if  he  had 
rooms  in  the  observatory,  and  he  answered,  '  Yes,  my 
rooms  are  94  ft.  by  50,' 

"  They  seem  to  be  amused  at  the  size  of  their  lodg- 
ings, for  Mr.  Struve,  when  he  told  me  of  his  apartments, 
gave  me  at  once  the  dimensions,  —  200  ft.  by  100  ft. 

"  The  room  in  which  we  dined  with  the  family  of 
Herr  Struve  was  immense.  I  spoke  of  it,  and  he  said, 
*  We  cannot  open  our  windows  in  the  winter,  —  the 
winters  are  so  severe,  —  and  so  we  must  have  good  air 


208  MARIA    MITCHELL 

without  it.'  Their  drawing-room  was  also  very  large ; 
the  chairs  (innumerable,  it  seemed  to  me)  stood  stiffly 
around  the  walls  of  the  room.  The  floor  was  painted 
and  highly  varnished,  and  flower-pots  were  at  the  nu- 
merous windows  on  little  stands.  It  was  scrupulously 
neat  everywhere. 

"  There  was  very  little  ceremony  at  dinner ;  we  had 
the  delicious  wild  strawberries  of  the  country  in  great 
profusion ;  and  the  talk,  the  best  part  of  the  dinner, 
was  in  German,  Russian,  and  English. 

"  Madame  Struve  spoke  German,  Russian,  and  French, 
and  complained  that  she  could  not  speak  English. 
She  said  that  she  had  spent  three  weeks  with  an  English 
lady,  and  that  she  must  be  very  stupid  not  to  speak 
English. 

"  I  noticed  that  in  one  of  the  rooms,  which  was  not 
so  very  immense,  there  was  a  circular  table,  a  small 
centre-carpet,  and  chairs  around  the  table ;  I  have 
been  told  that  '  in  society'  in  Russia,  the  ladies  sit  in  a 
circle,  and  the  gentlemen  walk  around  and  talk  con- 
secutively with  the  ladies,  —  kindly  giving  to  each  a 
share  of  their  attention. 

"  They  assured  me  that  the  winters  were  charming, 
the  sleighing  constant,  and  the  social  gatherings  cheery ; 
but  think  of  four  hours,  only,  of  daylight  in  the 
depth  of  the  winter.  Their  dread  was  the  spring  and 
the  autumn,  when  the  mud  is  deep. 

"  Everything  in  the  observatory  which  could  be  was 
built  of  wood.  They  have  the  fir,  which  is  very  inde- 
structible ;  it  is  supposed  to  show  no  mark  of  change  in 
two  hundred  years. 


SECOND    EUROPEAN   TOUR  209 

"  Wood  is  so  susceptible  of  ornamentation  that,  the 
pretty  villages  of  Russia  —  and  there  are  some  that  look 
like  New  England  villages  —  struck  us  very  pleasantly, 
after  the  stone  and  brick  villages  of  England. 

"  I  try,  when  I  am  abroad,  to  see  in  what  they  are 
superior  to  us,  —  not  in  what  they  are  inferior. 

"  Our  great  idea  is,  of  course,  freedom  and  self-govern- 
ment ;  probably  in  that  we  are  ahead  of  the  rest  of  the 
world,  although  we  are  certainly  not  so  much  in  advance 
as  we  suppose ;  but  we  are  sufficiently  inflated  with  our 
own  greatness  to  let  that  subject  take  care  of  itself  when 
we  travel.  We  travel  to  learn ;  and  I  have  never  been 
in  any  country  where  they  did  not  do  something  better 
than  we  do  it,  think  some  thoughts  better  than  we  think, 
catch  some  inspiration  from  heights  above  our  own  — 
as  in  the  art  of  Italy,  the  learning  of  England,  and  the 
philosophy  of  Germany. 

"  Let  us  take  the  scientific  position  of  Russia.  When, 
half  a  century  ago,  John  Quincy  Adams  proposed  the 
establishment  of  an  astronomical  observatory,  at  a  cost 
of  $100,000,  it  was  ridiculed  by  the  newspapers,  con- 
sidered Utopian,  and  dismissed  from  the  public  mind. 
When  our  government,  a  few  years  since,  voted  an 
appropriation  of  $50,000  for  a  telescope  for  the  National 
Observatory,  it  was  considered  magnificent.  Yet,  a 
quarter  of  a  century  since  (1838),  Russia  founded  an 
astronomical  observatory.  The  government  spent 
$200,000  on  instruments,  $1,500,000  on  buildings,  and 
annually  appropriated  $38,000  for  salaries  of  observ- 
ers. I  naturally  thought  that  a  million  and  a  half 
dollars,  and  Oriental  ideas,  combined,  would  make  the 


210  MARIA    MITCHELL 

observatory  a  showy  place ;  I  expected  that  the  obser- 
vatory would  be  surmounted  by  a  gilded  dome,  and 
that'  pearly  gates  '  would  open  as  I  approached.  There 
is  not  even  a  dome  ! 

"  The  central  observation-room  is  a  cylinder,  and  its 
doors  swing  back  on  hinges.  Wherever  it  is  possible, 
wood  is  used,  instead  of  stone  or  brick.  I  could  not 
detect,  in  the  whole  structure,  anything  like  carving, 
gilding,  or  painting,  for  mere  show.  It  was  all  for 
science ;  and  its  ornamentations  were  adapted  to  its 
uses,  and  came  at  their  demand. 

"  In  our  country,  the  man  of  science  leads  an  isolated 
life.  If  he  has  capabilities  of  administration,  our  gov- 
ernment does  not  yet  believe  in  them. 

"  The  director  of  the  observatory  at  Pulkova  has  the 
military  rank  of  general,  and  he  is  privy  councillor  to 
the  czar.  Every  subordinate  has  also  his  military 
position  —  he  is  a  soldier. 

"What  would  you  think  of  it,  if  the  director  of  any 
observatory  were  one  of  the  President's  cabinet  at 
Washington,  in  virtue  of  his  position?  Struve's  posi- 
tion is  that  of  a  member  of  the  President's  cabinet. 

"  Here  is  another  difference :  Ours  is  a  democratic 
country.  We  recognize  no  caste ;  we  are  born  '  free 
and  equal.'  We  honor  labor;  work  is  ennobling. 
These  expressions  we  are  all  accustomed  to  use.  Do 
we  live  up  to  them?  Many  a  rich  man,  many  a  man 
in  fine  social  position,  has  married  a  school-teacher; 
but  I  never  heard  it  spoken  of  as  a  source  of  pride  in 
the  alliance  until  I  went  to  despotic  Russia.  Struve 
told  me,  as  he  would  have  told  of  any  other  honor 


SECOND    EUROPEAN   TOUR  211 

which  had  been  his,  that  his  wife,  as  a  girl,  had  taught 
school  in  St.  Petersburg.  And  then  Madame  Struve 
joined  in  the  conversation,  and  told  me  how  much  the 
subject  of  woman's  education  still  held  her  interest. 

"  St.  Petersburg  is  about  the  size  of  Philadelphia. 
Struve  said,  '  There  are  thousands  of  women  studying 
science  in  St.  Petersburg/  How  many  thousand 
women  do  you  suppose  are  studying  science  in  the 
whole  State  of  New  York?  I  doubt  if  there  are  five 
hundred. 

"  Then  again,  as  to  language.  It  is  rare,  even  among 
the  common  people,  to  meet  one  who  speaks  one  lan- 
guage only.  If  you  can  speak  no  Russian,  try  your 
poor  French,  your  poor  German,  or  your  good  Eng- 
lish. You  may  be  sure  that  the  shopkeeper  will  answer 
in  one  or  another,  and  even  the  drosky-driver  picks  up 
a  little  of  some  one  of  them. 

"  Of  late,  the  Russian  government  has  founded  a 
medical  school  for  women,  giving  them  advantages 
which  are  given  to  men,  and  the  same  rank  when  they 
graduate ;  the  czar  himself  contributed  largely  to  the 
fund. 

"  One  wonders,  in  a  country  so  rich  as  ours,  that  so 
few  men  and  women  gratify  their  tastes  by  founding 
scholarships  and  aids  for  the  tuition  of  girls  —  it  must 
be  such  a  pleasant  way  of  spending  money. 

"Then  as  regards  religion.  I  am  never  in  a  country 
where  the  Catholic  or  Greek  church  is  dominant,  but  I 
see  with  admiration  the  zeal  of  its  followers.  I  may 
pity  their  delusions,  but  I  must  admire  their  devotion. 
If  you  look  around  in  one  of  our  churches  upon  the 


212  MARIA    MITCHELL 

congregation,  five-sixths  are  women,  and  in  some  towns 
nineteen-twentieths ;  and  if  you  form  a  judgment  from 
that  fact,  you  would  suppose  that  religion  was  entirely 
a  '  woman's  right.'  In  a  Catholic  church  or  Greek 
church,  the  men  are  not  only  as  numerous  as  the 
women,  but  they  are  as  intense  in  their  worship.  Well- 
dressed  men,  with  good  heads,  will  prostrate  themselves 
before  the  image  of  the  Holy  Virgin  as  many  times, 
and  as  devoutly,  as  the  beggar-woman. 

"  I  think  I  saw  a  Russian  gentleman  at  St.  Isaac's 
touch  his  forehead  to  the  floor,  rise  and  stand  erect, 
touch  the  floor  again,  and  rise  again,  ten  times  in  as 
many  minutes  ;  and  we  were  one  day  forbidden  entrance 
to  a  church  because  the  czar  was  about  to  say  his 
prayers ;  we  found  he  was  making  the  pilgrimage  of 
some  seventy  churches,  and  praying  in  each  one. 

"  Christians  who  believe  in  public  prayer,  and  who 
claim  that  we  should  be  instant  in  prayer,  would  con- 
sider it  a  severe  tax  upon  their  energies  to  pray  seventy 
times  a  day  —  they  don't  care  to  do  it ! 

"  Then  there  is  the  democracy  of  the  church.  There 
are  no  pews  to  be  sold  to  the  highest  bidder  —  no  '  re- 
served seats;  '  the  oneness  and  equality  before  God  are 
always  recognized.  A  Russian  gentleman,  as  he  prays, 
does  not  look  around,  and  move  away  from  the  poor 
beggar  next  to  him.  At  St.  Peter's  the  crowd  stands 
or  kneels  —  at  St.  Isaac's  they  stand ;  and  they  stand 
literally  on  the  same  plane. 

"  I  noticed  in  the  crowd  at  St.  Isaac's,  one  festival  day, 
young  girls  who  were  having  a  friendly  chat ;  but  their 
religion  was  ever  in  their  thoughts,  and  they  crossed 


SECOND    EUROPEAN   TOUR  213 

themselves  certainly  once  a  minute.  Their  religion  is 
not  an  affair  of  Sunday,  but  of  every  day  in  the  week. 

"  The  drosky-driver,  certainly  the  most  stupid  class  of 
my  acquaintance  in  Russia,  never  forgets  his  prayers ; 
if  his  passenger  is  never  so  much  in  a  hurry,  and  the 
bribe  never  so  high,  the  drosky-driver  will  check  his 
horse,  and  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  as  he  passes  the 
little  image  of  the  Virgin,  —  so  small,  perhaps,  that  you 
have  not  noticed  it  until  you  wonder  why  he  slackens 
his  pace. 

"  Then  as  to  government.  We  boast  of  our  national 
freedom,  and  we  talk  about  universal  suffrage,  the 
'  Home  of  the  Free,'  etc.  Yet  the  serfs  in  Russia  were 
freed  in  March,  1861,  just  before  our  Civil  war  began. 
They  freed  their  serfs  without  any  war,  and  each  serf 
received  some  acres  of  land.  They  freed  twenty-three 
millions,  and  we  freed  four  or  five  millions  of  blacks ; 
and  all  of  us,  who  are  old  enough,  remember  that  one 
of  the  fears  in  freeing  the  slaves  was  the  number  of 
lawless  and  ignorant  blacks  who,  it  was  supposed, 
would  come  to  the  North. 

"  We  talk  about  universal  suffrage ;  a  larger  part  of 
the  antiquated  Russians  vote  than  of  Americans.  Just 
as  I  came  away  from  St.  Petersburg  I  met  a  Moscow 
family,  travelling.  We  occupied  the  same  compartment 
car.  It  was  a  family  consisting  of  a  lady  and  her  three 
daughters.  When  they  found  where  I  had  been,  they 
asked  me,  in  excellent  English,  what  had  carried  me  to 
St.  Petersburg,  and  then,  why  I  was  interested  in 
Pulkova ;  and  so  I  must  tell  them  about  American  girls, 
and  so,  of  course,  of  Vassar  College. 


214  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"They  plied  me  with  questions:  'Do  you  have 
women  in  your  faculty?  Do  men  and  women  hold  the 
same  rank?'  I  returned  the  questions:  'Is  there  a 
girl's  college  in  Moscow?'  'No/  said  the  youngest 
sister,  with  a  sigh,  '  we  are  always  going  to  have  one.' 
The  eldest  sister  asked :  '  Do  women  vote  in  Amer- 
ica?' 'No,'  I  said.  '  Do  women  vote  in  Russia?  '  She 
said  '  No;  '  but  her  mother  interrupted  her,  and  there 
was  a  spicy  conversation  between  them,  in  Russian,  and 
then  the  mother,  who  had  rarely  spoken,  turned  to  me, 
and  said :  '  I  vote,  but  I  do  not  go  to  the  polls  myself. 
I  send  somebody  to  represent  me ;  my  vote  rests  upon 
my  property.' 

"  Have  you  not  read  a  story,  of  late,  in  the  news- 
papers, about  some  excellent  women  in  a  little  town  in 
Connecticut  whose  pet  heifers  were  taken  by  force  and 
sold  because  they  refused  to  pay  the  large  taxes  levied 
upon  them  by  their  townsmen,  they  being  the  largest 
holders  of  property  in  the  town?  That  circumstance 
could  not  have  happened  in  barbarous  Russia ;  there, 
the  owner  of  property  has  a  right  to  say  how  it  shall 

be  used. 

• 

"'Why  do  you  ask  me  about  our  government? '  I 
said  to  the  Russian  girls.  '  Are  you  interested  in 
questions  of  government?'  They  replied,  'All  Rus- 
sian women  are  interested  in  questions  of  that  sort.' 
How  many  American  women  are  interested  in  ques- 
tions concerning  government? 

"  These  young  girls  knew  exactly  what  questions  to 
ask  about  Vassar  College,  —  the  course  of  study,  the 
diploma,  the  number  of  graduates,  etc.  The  eldest 


SECOND    EUROPEAN    TOUR  21$ 

said  :  '  We  are  at  once  excited  when  we  hear  of  women 
studying;  we  have  longed  for  opportunities  to  study 
all  our  lives.  Our  father  was  the  engineer  of  the  first 
Russian  railroad,  and  he  spent  two  years  in  America.' 

"  I  confess  to  a  feeling  of  mortification  when  one  of 
these  girls  asked  me,  '  Did  you  ever  read  the  transla- 
tion of  a  Russian  book?'  and  I  was  obliged  to  answer 
'  No.'  This  girl  had  read  American  books  in  the  origi- 
nal. They  were  talking  Russian,  French,  German,  and 
English,  and  yet  mourning  over  their  need  of  educa- 
tion; and  in  general  education,  especially  in  that  of 
women,  I  think  we  must  be  in  advance  of  them. 

"  One  of  these  sisters,  forgetting  my  ignorance,  said 
something  to  me  in  Russian.  The  other  laughed. 
'What  did  she  say?'  I  asked.  The  eldest  replied, 
4  She  asked  you  to  take  her  back  with  you,  and  educate 
her.'  'But,'  I  said,  'you  read  and  speak  your  lan- 
guages—  the  learning  of  the  world  is  open  to  you  — 
found  your  own  college  !  '  And  the  young  girl  leaned 
back  on  the  cushions,  drew  her  mantle  around  her,  and 
said,  '  We  have  not  the  energy  of  the  American  girl !  ' 

"  The  energy  of  the  American  girl !  The  rich  inher- 
itance which  has  come  down  to  her  from  men  and 
women  who  sought,  in  the  New  World,  a  better  and 
higher  life. 

"  When  the  American  girl  carries  her  energy  into  the 
great  questions  of  humanity,  into  the  practical  problems 
of  life ;  when  she  takes  home  to  her  heart  the  interests 
of  education,  of  government,  and  of  religion,  what  may 
we  not  hope  for  our  country ! 

London,  1873.     "  It  was  the  26th  of  August,  and  I  had 


2l6  MARIA    MITCHELL 

no  hope  that  Miss  Cobbe  could  be  at  her  town  residence, 
but  I  felt  bound  to  deliver  Mrs.  Howe's  letter,  and  I  wished 
to  give  her  a  Vassar  pamphlet ;  so  I  took  a  cab  and  drove  ; 
it  was  at  an  enormous  distance  from  my  lodging  —  she 
told  me  it  was  six  miles.  I  was  as  much  surprised  as 
delighted  when  the  girl  said  she  was  at  home,  for  the 
house  had  painters  in  it,  the  carpets  were  up,  and  every- 
thing looked  uninhabitable.  The  girl  came  back,  after 
taking  my  card,  and  asked  me  if  I  would  go  into  the 
studio,  and  so  took  me  through  a  pretty  garden  into  a 
small  building  of  two  rooms,  the  outer  one  filled  with 
pictures  and  books.  I  had  never  heard  that  Miss  Cobbe 
was  an  artist,  and  so  I  looked  around,  and  was  afraid 
that  I  had  got  the  wrong  Miss  Cobbe.  But  as  I  glanced 
at  the  table  I  saw  the  '  Contemporary  Review,'  and  I 
took  up  the  first  article  and  read  it  —  by  Herbert 
Spencer.  I  had  become  somewhat  interested  in  a 
pretty  severe  criticism  of  the  modes  of  reasoning  of 
mathematical  men,  and  had  perceived  that  he  said  the 
problems  of  concrete  sciences  were  harder  than  any  of 
the  physical  sciences  (which  I  admitted  was  all  true), 
when  a  very  white  dog  came  bounding  in  upon  me,  and 
I  dropped  the  book,  knowing  that  the  dog's  mistress 
must  be  coming, —  and  Miss  Cobbe  entered.  She  looked 
just  as  I  expected,  but  even  larger ;  but  then  her  head 
is  magnificent  because  so  large.  She  was  very  cordial 
at  once,  and  told  me  that  Miss  Davies  had  told  her  I  was 
in  London.  She  said  the  studio  was  that  of  her  friend. 
I  could  not  refrain  from  thanking  her  for  her  books,  and 
telling  her  how  much  we  valued  them  in  America,  and 
how  much  good  I  believed  they  had  done.  She  colored 


SECOND    EUROPEAN   TOUR  2 1/ 

a  very  little,  and  said,  '  Nothing  could  be  more  grati- 
fying to  me/ 

"  I  had  heard  that  she  was  not  a  women's  rights 
woman,  and  she  said,  '  Who  could  have  told  you  that? 
I  am  remarkably  so.  I  write  suffrage  articles  contin- 
ually —  I  sign  petitions.' 

"  I  was  delighted  to  find  that  she  had  been  an  inti- 
mate friend  of  Mrs.  Somerville ;  had  corresponded  with 
her  for  years,  and  ha^d  a  letter  from  her  after  she  was 
ninety-two  years  of  age,  when  she  was  reading  Qua- 
ternions for  amusement.  She  said  that  Mrs.  Somerville 
would  probably  have  called  herself  a  Unitarian,  but 
that  really  she  was  a  Theist,  and  that  it  came  out  more 
in  her  later  life.  She  said  she  was  correcting  proof  of 
the  Life  by  the  daughters ;  that  the  Life  was  intensely 
interesting;  that  Mrs.  Somerville  mourned  all  her  life 
that  she  had  not  had  the  advantages  of  education. 

"  I  asked  her  how  I  could  get  a  photograph  of  Mrs. 
Somerville,  and  she  said  they  could  not  be  bought. 
She  told  me,  without  any  hint  from  me,  that  she  would 
give  Vassar  College  a  plaster  cast  of  the  bust  of  Mrs. 
Somerville.1  She  said,  as  women  grew  older,  if  they 
lived  independent  lives,  they  were  pretty  sure  to  be 
'women's  rights  women.'  She  said  the  clergy  —  the 
broadest,  who  were  in  harmony  with  her  —  were  very 
courteous,  and  that  since  she  had  grown  old  (she's 
about  forty-five)  all  men  were  more  tolerant  of  her  and 
forgot  the  difference  of  sex. 

"  I  felt  drawn  to  her  when  she  was  most  serious.  I 
told  her  I  had  suffered  much  from  doubt,  and  asked  her 

1  This  bust  always  stood  in  Miss  Mitchell's  parlor  at  the  observatory. 


2l8  MARIA    MITCHELL 

if  she  had  ;  and  she  said  yes,  when  she  was  young ;  but 
that  she  had  had,  in  her  life,  rare  intervals  when  she 
believed  she  held  communion  with  God,  and  on  those 
rare  periods  she  had  rested  in  the  long  intermissions. 
She  laughed,  and  the  tears  came  to  her  eyes,  all 
together;  she  was  quick,  and  all-alive,  and  so  courteous. 
When  she  gave  me  a  book  she  said,  '  May  I  write  your 
whole  name?  and  may  I  say  "  from  your  friend  "?  ' 

"  Then  she  hurried  on  her  bonnet,  and  walked  to  the 
station  with  me  ;  and  her  round  face,  with  the  blond  hair 
and  the  light-blue  eyes,  seemed  to  me  to  become  beau- 
tiful as  she  talked. 

"  In  Edinburgh  I  asked  for  a  photograph  of  Mary 
Somerville,  and  the  young  man  behind  the  counter 
replied,  '  I  don't  know  who  it  is.' 

"  In  London  I  asked  at  a  bookstore,  which  the 
Murrays  recommended,  for  a  photograph  of  Mrs. 
Somerville  and  of  Sir  George  Airy,  and  the  man  said 
if  they  could  be  had  in  London  he  would  get  them ; 
and  then  he  asked,  'Are  they  English?'  and  I  informed 
him  that  Sir  George  Airy  was  the  astronomer  royal ! 

"  '  The  Glasgow  College  for  Girls/  Seeing  a  sign  of 
this  sort,  I  rang  the  door-bell  of  the  house  to  which  it 
was  attached,  entered,  and  was  told  the  lady  was  at 
home.  As  I  waited  for  her,  I  took  up  the  '  Prospectus,' 
and  it  was  enough, —  '  music,  dancing,  drawing,  needle- 
work, and  English' were  the  prominent  features,  and  the 
pupils  were  children.  All  well  enough,  —  but  why  call 
it  a  college? 

"When  the  lady  superintendent  came  in,  I  told  her 


SECOND    EUROPEAN    TOUR  219 

that  I  had  supposed  it  was  for  more  advanced  students, 
and  she  said,  '  Oh,  it  is  for  girls  up  to  twenty ;  one  sup- 
poses a  girl  is  finished  by  twenty.' 

"  I  asked,  as  modestly  as  I  could,  '  Have  you  any 
pupils  in  Latin  and  mathematics?'  and  she  said,  'No, 
it's  for  girls,  you  know.  Dr.  M.  hopes  we  shall  have 
some  mathematics  next  year.'  '  And,'  I  asked,  '  some 
Latin  ? '  '  Yes,  Dr.  M.  hopes  we  shall  have  some  Latin ; 
but  I  confess  I  believe  Latin  and  mathematics  all  bosh ; 
give  them  modern  languages  and  accomplishments.  I 
suppose  your  school  is  for  professional  women.' 

"I  told  her  no;  that  the  daughters  of  our  wealthiest 
people  demand  learning;  that  it  would  scarcely  be  con- 
sidered '  good  society '  when  the  women  had  neither 
Latin  nor  mathematics. 

"  '  Oh,  well,'  she  said,  '  they  get  married  here  so 
soon.' 

"  When  I  asked  her  if  they  had  lady  teachers,  she 
said  '  Oh,  no  [as  if  that  would  ruin  the  institution]  ; 
nothing  but  first-class  masters.' 

"  It  was  clear  that  the  women  taught  the  needle- 
work." 


220  MARIA    MITCHELL 


CHAPTER    XI 

PAPERS SCIENCE     [1874]    THE   DENVER   ECLIPSE   [1878]  

COLORS   OF   STARS 

"  THE  dissemination  of  information  in  regard  to  sci- 
ence and  to  scientific  investigations  relieves  the  scientist 
from  the  small  annoyances  of  extreme  ignorance. 

"  No  one  to-day  will  expect  to  receive  a  letter  such 
as  reached  Sir  John  Herschel  some  years  ago,  asking 
for  the  writer's  horoscope  to  be  cast;  or  such  as  he 
received  at  another  time,  which  asked,  Shall  I  marry? 
and  Have  I  seen  her  f 

"  Nor  can  it  be  long,  if  the  whole  population  is  some- 
what educated,  that  I  shall  be  likely  to  receive,  as  I  have 
done,  applications  for  information  as  to  the  recovery  of 
stolen  goods,  or  to  tell  fortunes. 

"  When  crossing  the  Atlantic,  an  Irish  woman  came 
to  me  and  asked  me  if  I  told  fortunes ;  and  when  I 
replied  in  the  negative,  she  asked  me  if  I  were  not  an 
astronomer.  I  admitted  that  I  made  efforts  in  that 
direction.  She  then  asked  me  what  I  could  tell,  if  not 
fortunes.  I  told  her  that  I  could  tell  when  the  moon 
would  rise,  when  the  sun  would  rise,  etc.  She  said, 
1  Oh/  in  a  tone  which  plainly  said,  '  Is  that  all?  ' 

"  Only  a  few  winters  since,  during  a  very  mild  winter, 
a  young  lad  who  was  driving  a  team  called  out  to  me 
on  the  street,  and  said  he  had  a  question  to  ask  me. 


SCIENCE  22 1 

"  I  stopped ;  and  he  asked,  '  Shall  we  lose  our  ice- 
crop  this  winter? ' 

"  It  was  January,  and  it  was  New  England.  It  took 
very  little  learning  and  no  alchemy  to  foretell  that  the 
month  of  February  and  the  neighborhood  of  Boston 
would  give  ice  enough ;  and  I  told  him  that  the  ice- 
crop  would  be  abundant;  but  I  was  honest  enough  to 
explain  to  him  that  my  outlook  into  the  future  was  no 
better  than  his. 

"One  of  the  unfavorable  results  of  the  attempt  to 
popularize  science  is  this :  the  reader  of  popular  scien- 
tific books  is  very  likely  to  think  that  he  understands 
the  science  itself,  when  he  merely  understands  what 
some  writer  says  about  science. 

"  Take,  for  example,  the  method  of  determining  the 
distance  of  the  moon  from  the  earth  —  one  of  the  easiest 
problems  in  physical  astronomy.  The  method  can  be 
told  in  a  few  sentences ;  yet  it  took  a  hundred  years 
to  determine  it  with  any  degree  of  accuracy  —  and  a 
hundred  years,  not  of  the  average  work  of  mankind  in 
science,  but  a  hundred  years  during  which  able  minds 
were  bent  to  the  problem. 

"  Still,  with  all  the  school-masters,  and  all  the  teach- 
ing, and  all  the  books,  the  ignorance  of  the  unscientific 
world  is  enormous  ;  they  are  ignorant  both  ways  —  they 
underrate  the  scientific  people  and  they  overrate  them. 
There  is,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Irish  woman  who  is 
disappointed  because  you  cannot  tell  fortunes,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  cultivated  woman  who  supposes 
that  you  must  know  all  science. 

"  I  have  a  friend  who  wonders  that   I  do  not  take 


222  MARIA    MITCHELL 

my  astronomical  clock  to  pieces.  She  supposes  that 
because  I  am  an  astronomer,  I  must  be  able  to  be  a 
clock-maker,  while  I  do  not  handle  a  tool  if  I  can  help 
it !  She  did  not  expect  to  take  her  piano  to  pieces 
because  she  was  musical !  She  was  as  careful  not  to 
tinker  it  as  I  was  not  to  tinker  the  clock,  which  only 
an  expert  in  clock-making  was  prepared  to  handle. 

"  .  .  .  Only  a  few  weeks  since  I  received  a  letter 
from  a  lady  who  wished  to  come  to  make  me  a  visit,  and 
to  '  scan  the  heavens/  as  she  termed  it.  Now,  just  as 
she  wrote,  the  clock,  which  I  was  careful  not  to  meddle 
with,  had  been  rapidly  gaining  time,  and  I  was  standing 
before  it,  watching  it  from  hour  to  hour,  and  slightly 
changing  its  rate  by  dropping  small  weights  upon  its 
pendulum.  Time  is  so  important  an  element  with  the 
astronomer,  that  all  else  is  subordinate  to  it. 

"Then,  too,  the  uneducated  assume  the  unvarying 
exactness  of  mathematical  results;  while,  in  reality, 
mathematical  results  are  often  only  approximations. 
We  say  the  sun  is  91,000,000  miles  from  the  earth,  plus 
or  minus  a  probable  error ;  that  is,  we  are  right,  prob- 
ably, within,  say,  100,000  miles;  or,  the  sun  is  91,000,- 
OOO  minus  100,000  miles,  or  it  is  9 1,000,000  plus  100,000 
miles  off;  and  this  probable  error  is  only  a  probability. 

"  If  we  make  one  more  observation  it  cannot  agree 
with  any  one  of  our  determinations,  and  it  changes  our 
probable  error. 

"  This  ignorance  of  the  masses  leads  to  a  misconcep- 
tion in  two  ways ;  the  little  that  a  scientist  can  do,  they 
do  not  understand,  —  they  suppose  him  to  be  godlike 
in  his  capacity,  and  they  do  not  see  results ;  they 


BUST    OF    MARIA    MITCHELL 

From   Original  made  by  Miss  Emma  F.  Brig-ham  in  1877 


SCIENCE  223 

overrate  him  and  they  underrate  him  —  they  underrate 
his  work. 

"  There  is  no  observatory  in  this  land,  nor  in  any 
land,  probably,  of  which  the  question  is  not  asked, 
'  Are  they  doing  anything?  Why  don't  we  hear  from 
them?  They  should  make  discoveries,  they  should 
publish.' 

"  The  one  observation  made  at  Greenwich  on  the 
planet  Neptune  was  not  published  until  after  a  century 
or  more  —  it  was  recorded  as  a  star.  The  observation 
had  to  wait  a  hundred  years,  about,  before  the  time  had 
come  when  that  evening's  work  should  bear  fruit;  but 
it  was  good,  faithful  work,  and  its  time  came. 

"  Kepler  was  years  in  passing  from  one  of  his  laws 
to  another,  while  the  school-boy,  to-day,  rattles  off  the 
three  as  if  they  were  born  of  one  breath. 

"  The  scientist  should  be  free  to  pursue  his  investiga- 
tions. He  cannot  be  a  scientist  and  a  school-master. 
If  he  pursues  his  science  in  all  his  intervals  from  his 
class-work,  his  classes  suffer  on  account  of  his  engross- 
ments ;  if  he  devotes  himself  to  his  students,  science 
suffers ;  and  yet  we  all  go  on,  year  after  year,  trying 
to  work  the  two  fields  together,  and  they  need  different 
culture  and  different  implements. 

"  1 878.  In  the  eclipse  of  this  year,  the  dark  shadow  fell 
first  on  the  United  States  thirty-eight  degrees  west  of 
Washington,  and  moved  towards  the  south-east,  a  circle 
of  darkness  one  hundred  and  sixteen  miles  in  diameter; 
circle  overlapping  circle  of  darkness  until  it  could  be 
mapped  down  like  a  belt. 

"  The  mapping  of  the  dark  shadow,  with  its  limita- 


224  MARIA    MITCHELL 

tions  of  one  hundred  and  sixteen  miles,  lay  across  the 
country  from  Montana,  through  Colorado,  northern  and 
eastern  Texas,  and  entered  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  between 
Galveston  and  New  Orleans.  This  was  the  region  of 
total  eclipse.  Looking  along  this  dark  strip  on  the 
map,  each  astronomer  selected  his  bit  of  darkness  on 
which  to  locate  the  light  of  science. 

"  But  for  the  distance  from  the  large  cities  of  the 
country,  Colorado  seemed  to  be  a  most  favorable  part 
of  the  shadow ;  it  was  little  subject  to  storms,  and 
reputed  to  be  enjoyable  in  climate  and  abundant  in 
hospitality. 

"  My  party  chose  Denver,  Col.  I  had  a  friend  who 
lived  in  Denver,  and  she  was  visiting  me.  I  sought 
her  at  once,  and  with  fear  and  trembling  asked,  '  Have 
you  a  bit  of  land  behind  your  house  in  Denver  where  I 
could  put  up  a  small  telescope?  '  '  Six  hundred  miles/ 
was  the  laconic  reply ! 

"  I  felt  that  the  hospitality  of  the  Rocky  mountains 
was  at  my  feet.  Space  and  time  are  so  unconnected  ! 
For  an  observation  which  would  last  two  minutes  forty 
seconds,  I  was  offered  six  hundred  miles,  after  a  journey 
of  thousands. 

"  A  journey  from  Boston  to  Denver  makes  one  hope- 
ful for  the  future  of  our  country.  We  had  hour  after 
hour  and  day  after  day  of  railroad  travel,  over  level, 
unbroken  land  on  which  cattle  fed  unprotected,  sum- 
mer and  winter,  and  which  seemed  to  implore  the 
traveller  to  stay  and  to  accept  its  richness.  It  must  be 
centuries  before  the  now  unpeopled  land  of  western 
Kansas  and  Colorado  can  be  crowded. 


THE    DENVER    ECLIPSE  22$ 

"  We  started  from  Boston  a  party  of  two ;  at  Cincin- 
nati a  third  joined  us ;  at  Kansas  City  we  came  upon  a 
fourth  who  was  ready  to  fall  into  our  ranks,  and  at 
Denver  two  more  awaited  us ;  so  we  were  a  party  of 
six  —  '  All  good  women  and  true.' 

"All  along  the  road  it  had  been  evident  that  the 
country  was  roused  to  a  knowledge  of  the  coming 
eclipse  ;  we  overheard  remarks  about  it;  small  telescopes 
travelled  with  us,  and  our  landlord  at  Kansas  City, 
when  I  asked  him  to  take  care  of  a  chronometer,  said 
he  had  taken  care  of  fifty  of  them  in  the  previous  fort- 
night. Our  party  had  three  telescopes  and  one  chro- 
nometer. 

"  We  had  travelled  so  comfortably  all  along  the  Santa 
Fe  road,  from  Kansas  City  to  Pueblo,  that  we  had  for- 
gotten the  possibility  of  other  railroad  annoyances  than 
those  of  heat  and  dust  until  we  reached  Pueblo.  At 
Pueblo  all  seemed  to  change.  We  left  the  Santa  Fe 
road  and  entered  upon  that  of  the  Rio  Grande. 

"  Which  road  was  to  blame,  it  is  not  for  me  to  say, 
but  there  was  trouble  at  once  about  our  '  round-trip 
ticket.'  That  settled,  we  supposed  all  was  right. 

"  In  sending  out  telescopes  so  far  as  from  Boston 
to  Denver,  I  had  carefully  taken  out  the  glasses,  and 
packed  them  in  my  trunks.  I  carried  the  chronometer 
in  my  hand. 

"  It  was  only  five  hours'  travel  from  Pueblo  to  Den- 
ver, and  we  went  on  to  that  city.  The- trunks,  for  some 
unexplained  reason,  or  for  no  reason  at  all,  chose  to 
remain  at  Pueblo. 

"  One  telescope-tube  reached  Denver  when  we  did; 


226  MARIA    MITCHELL 

but  a  telescope-tube  is  of  no  value  without  glasses. 
We  learned  that  there  was  a  war  between  the  two  rail- 
roads which  unite  at  Pueblo,  and  war,  no  matter  where 
or  when  it  occurs,  means  ignorance  and  stupidity. 

"The  unit  of  measure  of  value  which  the  railroad 
man  believes  in  is  entirely  different  from  that  in  which 
the  scientist  rests  his  faith. 

"A  war  between  two  railroads  seemed  very  small 
compared  with  two  minutes  forty  seconds  of  observa- 
tion of  a  total  eclipse.  One  was  terrestrial,  the  other 
cosmic. 

"  It  was  Wednesday  when  we  reached  Denver.  The 
eclipse  was  to  occur  the  following  Monday. 

"  We  haunted  the  telegraph-rooms,  and  sent  implor- 
ing messages.  We  placed  ourselves  at  the  station,  and 
watched  the  trains  as  they  tossed  out  their  freight ;  we 
listened  to  every  express-wagon  which  passed  our  door 
without  stopping,  and  just  as  we  were  trying  to  find  if 
a  telescope  could  be  hired  or  bought  in  Denver,  the 
glasses  arrived. 

"  It  was  now  Friday ;  we  must  put  up  tents  and  tele- 
scopes, and  test  the  glasses. 

"  It  rained  hard  on  Friday  —  nothing  could  be  done. 
It  rained  harder  on  Saturday.  It  rained  hardest  of  all 
on  Sunday,  and  hail  mingled  with  the  rain.  But  Mon- 
day morning  was  clear  and  bright.  It  was  strange 
enough  to  find  that  we  might  camp  anywhere  around 
Denver.  Our  hostess  suggested  to  us  to  place  our- 
selves on  '  McCullough's  Addition.'  In  New  York  or 
Boston,  if  I  were  about  to  camp  on  private  grounds  I 
should  certainly  ask  permission.  In  the  far  West  you 


THE   DENVER    ECLIPSE  22  / 

choose  your  spot  of  ground,  you  dig  post-holes  and 
you  pitch  tents,  and  you  set  up  telescopes  and  inhabit 
the  land ;  and  then  the  owner  of  the  land  comes  to 
you,  and  asks  if  he  may  not  put  up  a  fence  for  you, 
to  keep  off  intruders,  and  the  nearest  residents  come 
to  you  and  offer  aid  of  any  kind. 

"  Our  camping-place  was  near  the  house  occupied 
by  sisters  of  charity,  and  the  black-robed,  sweet-faced 
women  came  out  to  offer  us  the  refreshing  cup  of  tea 
and  the  new-made  bread. 

"  All  that  we  needed  was  '  space,'  and  of  that  there 
was  plenty. 

"  Our  tents  being  up  and  the  telescopes  mounted, 
we  had  time  to  look  around  at  the  view.  The  space 
had  the  unlimitedness  that  we  usually  connect  with  sea 
and  sky.  Our  tents  were  on  the  slope  of  a  hill,  at 
the  foot  of  which  we  were  about  six  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea.  The  plain  was  three  times  as  high 
as  the  hills  of  the  Hudson-river  region,  and  there  arose 
on  the  south,  almost  from  west  to  east,  the  peaks  upon 
peaks  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  One  needs  to  live 
upon  such  a  plateau  for  weeks,  to  take  in  the  grandeur 
of  the  panorama. 

"  It  is  always  difficult  to  teach  the  man  of  the  people 
that  natural  phenomena  belong  as  much  to  him  as  to 
scientific  people.  Camping  parties  who  put  up  tele- 
scopes are  always  supposed  to  be  corporations  with 
particular  privileges,  and  curious  lookers-on  gather 
around,  and  try  to  enter  what  they  consider  a  charmed 
circle.  We  were  remarkably  free  from  specialists  of 
this  kind.  Camping  on  the  south-west  slope  of  the 


228  MARIA    MITCHELL 

hill,  we  were  hidden  on  the  north  and  east,  and  another 
party  which  chose  the  brow  of  the  hill  was  much  more 
attractive  to  the  crowd.  Our  good  serving-man  was 
told  to  send  away  the  few  strollers  who  approached ; 
even  our  friends  from  the  city  were  asked  to  remove 
beyond  the  reach  of  voice. 

"  There  is  always  some  one  to  be  found  in  every 
gathering  who  will  not  submit  to  law.  At  the  time  of 
the  total  eclipse  in  Iowa,  in  1869,  there  passed  in  and 
out  among  our  telescopes  and  observers  an  unknown, 
closely  veiled  woman.  The  remembrance  of  that  occa- 
sion never  comes  to  my  mind  without  the  accompani- 
ment of  a  fluttering  green  veil. 

"  This  time  it  was  a  man.  How  he  came  among  us 
and  why  he  remained,  no  one  can  say.  Each  one  sup- 
posed that  the  others  knew,  and  that  there  was  good 
reason  for  his  presence.  If  I  was  under  the  tent, 
wiping  glasses,  he  stood  beside  me ;  if  the  photog- 
rapher wished  to  make  a  picture  of  the  party,  this  man 
came  to  the  front;  and  when  I  asked  the  servant  to 
send  off  the  half-vagrant  boys  and  girls  who  stood 
gazing  at  us,  this  man  came  up  and  said  to  me  in  a 
confidential  tone,  '  They  do  not  understand  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  occasion,  and  the  fineness  of  the  condi- 
tions.' There  was  something  regal  in  his  audacity,  but 
he  was  none  the  less  a  tramp. 

"  Persons  who  observe  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  always 
try  to  do  the  impossible.  They  seem  to  consider  it  a 
solemn  duty  to  see  the  first  contact  of  sun  and  moon. 
The  moon,  when  seen  in  the  daytime,  looks  .like  a  small 
faint  cloud ;  as  it  approaches  the  sun  it  becomes 


THE   DENVER    ECLIPSE  2 29 

wholly  unseen ;  and  an  observer  tries  to  see  when 
this  unseen  object  touches  the  glowing  disc  of  the 
sun. 

"  When  we  look  at  any  other  object  than  the  sun,  we 
stimulate  our  vision.  A  good  observer  will  remain  in 
the  dark  for  a  short  time  before  he  makes  a  delicate 
observation  on  a  faint  star,  and  will  then  throw  a  cap 
over  his  head  to  keep  out  strong  lights. 

"  When  we  look  at  the  sun,  we  at  once  try  to  deaden 
its  light.  We  protect  our  eyes  by  dark  glasses  —  the 
less  of  sunlight  we  can  get  the  better.  We  calculate 
exactly  at  what  point  the  moon  will  touch  the  sun,  and 
we  watch  that  point  only.  The  exact  second  by  the 
chronometer  when  the  figure  of  the  moon  touches  that 
of  the  sun,  is  always  noted.  It  is  not  only  valuable  for 
the  determination  of  longitude,  but  it  is  a  check  on  our 
knowledge  of  the  moon's  motions.  Therefore,  we  try 
for  the  impossible. 

"  One  of  our  party,  a  young  lady  from  California,  was 
placed  at  the  chronometer.  She  was  to  count  aloud 
the  seconds,  to  which  the  three  others  were  to  listen. 
Two  others,  one  a  young  woman  from  Missouri,  who 
brought  with  her  a  fine  telescope,  and  another  from 
Ohio,  besides  myself,  stood  at  the  three  telescopes.  A 
fourth,  from  Illinois,  was  stationed  to  watch  general 
effects,  and  one  special  artist,  pencil  in  hand,  to  sketch 
views. 

"  Absolute  silence  was  imposed  upon  the  whole  party 
a  few  minutes  before  each  phenomenon. 

"  Of  course  we  began  full  a  minute  too  soon,  and  the 
constrained  position  was  irksome  enough,  for  even  time 


230  MARIA    MITCHELL 

is  relative,  and  the  minute  of  suspense  is  longer  than 
the  hour  of  satisfaction.1 

"The  moon,  so  white  in  the  sky,  becomes  densely 
black  when  it  is  closely  ranging  with  the  sun,  and  it 
shows  itself  as  a  black  notch  on  the  burning  disc  when 
the  eclipse  begins. 

"  Each  observer  made  her  record  in  silence,  and  then 
we  turned  and  faced  one  another,  with  record  in  hand 
—  we  differed  more  than  a  second ;  it  was  a  large 
difference. 

"  Between  first  contact  and  totality  there  was  more 
than  an  hour,  and  we  had  little  to  do  but  look  at  the 
beautiful  scenery  and  watch  the  slow  motion  of  a  few 
clouds,  on  a  height  which  was  cloud-land  to  dwellers 
by  the -sea. 

"  Our  photographer  begged  us  to  keep  our  positions 
while  he  made  a  picture  of  us.  The  only  value  to  the 
picture  is  the  record  that  it  preserves  of  the  parallelism 
of  the  three  telescopes.  You  would  say  it  was  stiff 
and  unnatural,  did  you  not  know  that  it  was  the  ordering 
of  Nature  herself — they  all  point  to  the  centre  of  the 
solar  system. 

"  As  totality  approached,  all  again  took  their  posi- 
tions. The  corona,  which  is  the  '  glory  '  seen  around 
the  sun,  was  visible  at  least  thirteen  minutes  before  total- 
ity ;  each  of  the  party  took  a  look  at  this,  and  then  all 
was  silent,  only  the  count,  on  and  on,  of  the  young 

1  As  the  computed  time  for  the  first  contact  drew  near,  the  breath  of  the 
counter  grew  short,  and  the  seconds  were  almost  gasped  and  threatened  to 
become  inaudible,  when  Miss  Mitchell,  without  moving  her  eye  from  the  tube 
of  the  telescope,  took  up  the  counting,  and  continued  until  the  young  lady 
recovered  herself,  which  she  did  immediately. 


THE   DENVER    ECLIPSE  2$  I 

woman  at  the  chronometer.  When  totality  came,  even 
that  ceased. 

"  How  still  it  was ! 

"As  the  last  rays  of  sunlight  disappeared,  the  corona 
burst  out  all  around  the  sun,  so  intensely  bright  near  the 
sun  that  the  eye  could  scarcely  bear  it ;  extending  less 
dazzlingly  bright  around  the  sun  for  the  space  of  about 
half  the  sun's  diameter,  and  in  some  directions  sending 
off  streamers  for  millions  of  miles. 

"  It  was  now  quick  work.  Each  observer  at  the 
telescopes  gave  a  furtive  glance  at  the  un-sunlike  sun, 
moved  the  dark  eye-piece  from  the  instrument,  replaced 
it  by  a  more  powerful  white  glass,  and  prepared  to  see 
all  that  could  be  seen  in  two  minutes  forty  seconds. 
They  must  note  the  shape  of  the  corona,  its  color,  its 
seeming  substance,  and  they  must  look  all  around  the 
sun  for  the  '  interior  planet.' 

"  There  was  certainly  not  the  beauty  of  the  eclipse 
of  1869.  Then  immense  radiations  shot  out  in  all 
directions,  and  threw  themselves  over  half  the  sky.  In 
1869,  the  rosy  prominences  were  so  many,  so  brilliant, 
so  fantastic,  so  weirdly  changing,  that  the  eye  must 
follow  them;  now,  scarcely  a  protuberance  of  color, 
only  a  roseate  light  around  the  sun  as  the  totality  ended. 
But  if  streamers  and  prominences  were  absent,  the 
corona  itself  was  a  great  glory.  Our  special  artist,  who 
made  the  sketch  for  my  party,  could  not  bear  the  light. 

"  When  the  two  minutes  forty  seconds  were  over,  each 
observer  left  her  instrument,  turned  in  silence  from  the 
sun,  and  wrote  down  brief  notes.  Happily,  some  one 
broke  through  all  rules  of  order,  and  shouted  out,  '  The 


232  MARIA    MITCHELL 

shadow !  the  shadow  !  '  And  looking  toward  the  south- 
east we  saw  the  black  band  of  shadow  moving  from  us, 
a  hundred  and  sixty  miles  over  the  plain,  and  toward 
the  Indian  Territory.  It  was  not  the  flitting  of  the 
closer  shadow  over  the  hill  and  dale :  it  was  a  picture 
which  the  sun  threw  at  our  feet  of  the  dignified  march 
of  the  moon,  in  its  orbit. 

"  And  now  we  looked  around.  What  a  strange  orange 
light  there  was  in  the  north-east !  what  a  spectral  hue  to 
the  whole  landscape  !  Was  it  really  the  same  old  earth, 
and  not  another  planet? 

"  Great  is  the  self-denial  of  those  who  follow  science. 
They  who  look  through  telescopes  at  the  time  of  a  total 
eclipse  are  martyrs;  they  severely  deny  themselves. 
The  persons  who  can  say  that  they  have  seen  a  total 
eclipse  of  the  sun  are  those  who  rely  upon  their  eyes. 
My  aids,  who  touched  no  glasses,  had  a  season  of  rare 
enjoyment.  They  saw  Mercury,  with  its  gleam  of  white 
light,  and  Mars,  with  its  ruddy  glow ;  they  saw  Regulus 
come  out  of  the  darkening  blue  on  one  side  of  the  sun, 
Venus  shimmer  and  Procyon  twinkle  near  the  horizon, 
and  Arcturus  shine  down  from  the  zenith. 

"  We  saw  the  giant  shadow  as  it  left  us  and  passed 
over  the  lands  of  the  untutored  Indian ;  they  saw  it  as  it 
approached  from  the  distant  west,  as  it  fell  upon  the 
peaks  of  the  mountain-tops,  and,  in  the  impressive  still- 
ness, moved  directly  for  our  camping-ground. 

"  The  savage,  to  whom  it  is  the  frowning  of  the  Great 
Spirit,  is  awe-struck  and  alarmed ;  the  scholar,  to  whom 
it  is  a  token  of  the  inviolability  of  law,  is  serious  and 
reverent. 


COLORS    OF  STARS  233 

"There  is  a  dialogue  in  some  of  the  old  school- 
readers,  and  perhaps  in  some  of  the  new,  between  a 
tutor  and  his  two  pupils  who  had  been  out  for  a  walk. 
One  pupil  complained  that  the  way  was  long,  the  road 
was  dusty,  and  the  scenery  uninteresting;  the  other 
was  full  of  delight  at  the  beauties  he  had  found  in  the 
same  walk.  One  had  walked  with  his  eyes  intellectu- 
ally closed ;  the  other  had  opened  his  eyes  wide  to 
all  the  charms  of  nature.  In  some  respects  we  are  all, 
at  different  times,  like  each  of  these  boys  :  we  shut  our 
eyes  to  the  enjoyments  of  nature,  or  we  open  them. 
But  we  are  capable  of  improving  ourselves,  even  in  the 
use  of  our  eyes  —  we  see  most  when  we  are  most  de- 
termined to  see.  The  will  has  a  wonderful  effect  upon 
the  perceptive  faculties.  When  we  first  look  up  at  the 
myriads  of  stars  seen  in  a  moonless  evening,  all  is 
confusion  to  us ;  we  admire  their  brilliancy,  but  we 
scarcely  recognize  their  grouping.  We  do  not  feel 
the  need  of  knowing  much  about  them. 

"  A  traveller,  lost  on  a  desert  plain,  feels  that  the 
recognition  of  one  star,  the  Pole  star,  is  of  itself  a  great 
acquisition ;  and  all  persons  who,  like  mariners  and 
soldiers,  are  left  much  with  the  companionship  of  the 
stars,  only  learn  to  know  the  prominent  clusters,  even 
if  they  do  not  know  the  names  given  to  them  in  books. 

"  The  daily  wants  of  the  body  do  not  require  that  we 
should  say 

"  '  Give  me  the  ways  of  wandering  stars  to  know 
The  depths  of  heaven  above  and  earth  below.' 

But  we   have  a  hunger   of  the   mind  which  asks   for 


234  MARIA    MITCHELL 

knowledge  of  all  around  us,  and  the  more  we  gain,  the 
more  is  our  desire;  the  more  we  see,  the  more  are  we 
capable  of  seeing. 

"Besides  learning  to  see,  there  is  another  art  to  be 
learned,  —  not  to  see  what  is  not. 

"  If  we  read  in  to-day's  paper  that  a  brilliant  comet 
was  seen  last  night  in  New  York,  we  are  very  likely  to 
see  it  to-night  in  Boston ;  for  we  take  every  long, 
fleecy  cloud  for  a  splendid  comet. 

"  When  the  comet  of  1680  was  expected,  a  few  years 
ago,  to  reappear,  some  young  men  in  Cambridge  told 
Professor  Bond  that  they  had  seen  it ;  but  Professor 
Bond  did  not  see  it.  Continually  are  amateurs  in 
astronomy  sending  notes  of  new  discoveries  to  Bond, 
or  some  other  astronomers,  which  are  no  discoveries 
at  all ! 

"  Astronomers  have  long  supposed  the  existence  of  a 
planet  inferior  to  Mercury;  and  M.  Leverrier  has,  by 
mathematical  calculation,  demonstrated  that  such  a 
planet  exists.  He  founded  his  calculations  upon  the 
supposed  discovery  of  M.  Lesbarcault,  who  declares 
that  it  crossed  the  sun's  disc,  and  that  he  saw  it  and 
made  drawings.  The  internal  evidence,  from  the  man's 
account,  is  that  he  was  an  honest  enthusiast.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  he  followed  the  path  of  a  solar  spot, 
and  as  the  sun  turned  on  its  axis  he  mistook  the 
motion  for  that  of  the  dark  spot ;  or  perhaps  the  spot 
changed  and  became  extinct,  and  another  spot  closely 
resembling  it  broke  out  and  he  was  deceived ;  his 
wishes  all  the  time  being  '  father  to  the  thought.' 

"  The  eye  is  as  teachable  as  the  hand.     Every  one 


COLORS    OF  STARS  235 

knows  the  most  prominent  constellations,  —  the  Pleiades, 
the  Great  Bear,  and  Orion.  Many  persons  can  draw  the 
figures  made  by  the  most  brilliant  stars  in  these  con- 
stellations, and  very  many  young  people  look  for  the 
'  lost  Pleiad.'  But  common  observers  know  these  stars 
only  as  bright  objects ;  they  do  not  perceive  that  one 
star  differs  from  another  in  glory ;  much  less  do  they 
perceive  that  they  shine  with  differently  colored  rays. 

"  Those  who  know  Sirius  and  Betel  do  not  at  once 
perceive  that  one  shines  with  a  brilliant  white  light  and 
the  other  burns  with  a  glowing  red,  as  different  in  their 
brilliancy  as  the  precious  stones  on  a  lapidary's  table, 
perhaps  for  the  same  reason.  And  so  there  is  an  end- 
less variety  of  tints  of  paler  colors. 

"  We  may  turn  our  gaze  as  we  turn  a  kaleidoscope, 
and  the  changes  are  infinitely  more  startling,  the  com- 
binations infinitely  more  beautiful;  no  flower  garden 
presents  such  a  variety  and  such  delicacy  of  shades. 

"  But  beautiful  as  this  variety  is,  it  is  difficult  to 
measure  it ;  it  has  a  phantom-like  intangibility  —  we 
seem  not  to  be  able  to  bring  it  under  the  laws  of 
science. 

"  We  call  the  stars  garnet  and  sapphire ;  but  these 
are,  at  best,  vague  terms.  Our  language  has  not  terms 
enough  to  signify  the  different  delicate  shades ;  our 
factories  have  not  the  stuff  whose  hues  might  make  a 
chromatic  scale  for  them. 

"  In  this  dilemma,  we  might  make  a  scale  of  colors 
from  the  stars  themselves.  We  might  put  at  the  head 
of  the  scale  of  crimson  stars  the  one  known  as  Hind's, 
which  is  four  degrees  west  of  Rigel ;  we  might  make 


236  MARIA    MITCHELL 

a  scale  of  orange  stars,  beginning  with  Betel  as  orange 
red ;  then  we  should  have 

Betelgeuze, 

Aldebaran, 

/3  Ursae  Minoris, 

Altair  and  a  Canis, 

a  Lyrae, 

the  list  gradually  growing  paler  and  paler,  until  we 
come  to  a  Lyrae,  which  might  be  the  leader  of  a  host 
of  pale  yellow  stars,  gradually  fading  off  into  white. 

"•Most  of  the  stars  seen  with  the  naked  eye  are  vari- 
eties of  red,  orange,  and  yellow.  The  reds,  when  seen 
with  a  glass,  reach  to  violet  or  dark  purple.  With  a 
glass,  there  come  out  other  colors :  very  decided 
greens,  very  delicate  blues,  browns,  grays,  and  white. 
If  these  colors  are  almost  intangible  at  best,  they  are 
rendered  more  so  by  the  variations  of  the  atmosphere, 
of  the  eye,  and  of  the  glass.  But  after  these  are  all 
accounted  for,  there  is  still  a  .  real  difference.  Two 
stars  of  the  class  known  as  double  stars,  that  is,  so 
little  separated  that  considerable  optical  power  is  nec- 
essary to  divide  them,  show  these  different  tints  very 
nicely  in  the  same  field  of  the  telescope. 

"Then  there  comes  in  the  chance  that  the  colors 
are  complementary ;  that  the  eye,  fatigued  by  a  brilliant 
red  in  the  principal  star,  gives  to  the  companion  the 
color  which  would  make  up  white  light.  This  happens 
sometimes ;  but  beyond  this  the  reare  innumerable  cases 
of  finely  contrasted  colors  which  are  not  complementary, 
but  which  show  a  real  difference  of  light  in  the  stars; 
resulting,  perhaps,  from  distance,  —  for  some  colors 


COLORS    OF  STARS  237 

travel  farther  than  others,  and  all  colors  differ  in  their 
order  of  march,  —  perhaps  from  chemical  differences. 

"  Single  blue  or  green  stars  are  never  seen ;  they  are 
always  given  as  the  smaller  companion  of  a  pair. 

"  Out  of  several  hundred  observed  by  Mr.  Bishop, 
forty-five  have  small  companions  of  a  bluish,  or  green- 
ish, or  purplish  color.  Almost  all  of  these  are  stars  of 
the  eighth  to  tenth  magnitude ;  only  once  are  both 
seen  blue,  and  only  in  one  case  is  the  large  one  blue. 
In  almost  every  case  the  large  star  is  yellow.  The 
color  most  prevailing  is  yellow;  but  the  varieties  of 
yellow  are  very  great. 

"  We  may  assume,  then,  that  the  blue  stars  are  faint 
ones,  and  probably  distant  ones.  But  as  not  all  faint 
stars  or  distant  ones  are  blue,  it  shows  that  there  is  a 
real  difference.  In  the  star  called  35  Piscium,  the  small 
star  shows  a  peculiar  snuffy-brown  tinge. 

"Of  two  stars  in  the  constellation  Ursa  Minoris,  not 
double  stars,  one  is  orange  and  the  other  is  green,  both 
very  vivid  in  color. 

"  From  age  to  age  the  colors  of  some  prominent  stars 
have  certainly  changed.  This  would  seem  more  likely 
to  be  from  change  of  place  than  of  physical  constitution. 

"  Nothing  comes  out  more  clearly  in  astronomical 
observations  than  the  immense  activity  of  the  universe. 
'  All  change,  no  loss,  'tis  revolution  all.' 

"  Observations  of  this,  kind  are  peculiarly  adapted-to 
women.  Indeed,  all  astronomical  observing  seems  to 
be  so  fitted.  The  training  of  a  girl  fits  her  for  delicate 
work.  The  touch  of  her  fingers  upon  the  delicate 
screws  of  an  astronomical  instrument  might  become 


238  MARIA    MITCHELL 

wonderfully  accurate  in  results ;  a  woman's  eyes  are 
trained  to  nicety  of  color.  The  eye  that  directs  a  needle 
in  the  delicate  meshes  of  embroidery  will  equally  well 
bisect  a  star  with  the  spider  web  of  the  micrometer. 
Routine  observations,  too,  dull  as  they  are,  are  less 
dull  than  the  endless  repetition  of  the  same  pattern  in 
crochet-work. 

"  Professor  Chauvenet  enumerates  among  '  accidental 
errors  in  observing/  those  arising  from  imperfections 
in  the  senses,  as  '  the  imperfection  of  the  eye  in  measur- 
ing small  spaces ;  of  the  ear,  in  estimating  small  inter- 
vals of  time;  of  the  touch,  in  the  delicate  handling  of  an 
instrument.' 

"  A  girl's  eye  is  trained  from  early  childhood  to  be 
keen.  The  first  stitches  of  the  sewing-work  of  a  little 
child  are  about  as  good  as  those  of  the  mature  man. 
The  taking  of  small  stitches,  involving  minute  and 
equable  measurements  of  space,  is  a  part  of  every  girl's 
training;  she  becomes  skilled,  before  she  is  aware  of  it, 
in  one  of  the  nicest  peculiarities  of  astronomical  obser- 
vation. 

"  The  ear  of  a  child  is  less  trained,  except  in  the  case 
of  a  musical  education  ;  but  the  touch  is  a  delicate  sense 
given  in  exquisite  degree  to  a  girl,  and  her  training 
comes  in  to  its  aid.  She  threads  a  needle  almost  as 
soon  as  she  speaks ;  she  touches  threads  as  delicate  as 
the  spider-web  of  a  micrometer. 

"  Then  comes  in  the  girl's  habit  of  patient  and  quiet 
work,  peculiarly  fitted  to  routine  observations.  The 
girl  who  can  stitch  from  morning  to  night  would  find 
two  or  three  hours  in  the  observatory  a  relief." 


RELIGIOUS   BELIEFS  239 


CHAPTER   XII 

RELIGIOUS  BELIEFS COMMENTS  ON  SERMONS CONCORD   SCHOOL 

WHITTIER COOKING   SCHOOLS ANECDOTES 

PARTLY  in  consequence  of  her  Quaker  training,  and 
partly  from  her  own  indifference  towards  creeds  and 
sects,  Miss  Mitchell  was  entirely  ignorant  of  the  pecu- 
liar phrases  and  customs  used  by  rigid  sectarians ;  so 
that  she  was  apt  to  open  her  eyes  in  astonishment  at 
some  of  the  remarks  and  sectarian  prejudices  which 
she  met  after  her  settlement  at  Vassar  College.  She 
was  a  good  learner,  however,  and  after  a  while  knew 
how  to  receive  in  silence  that  which  she  did  not  under- 
stand. 

"  Miss  Mitchell,"  asked  one  good  missionary,  "  what 
is  your  favorite  position  in  prayer?"  "  Flat  upon  my 
back !  "  the  answer  came,  swift  as  lightning. 

In  1854  she  wrote  in  her  diary: 

"There  is  a  God,  and  he  is  good,  I  say  to.  myself. 
I  try  to  increase  my  trust  in  this,  my  only  article  of 
creed." 

Miss  Mitchell  never  joined  any  church,  but  for  years 
before  she  left  Nantucket  she  attended  the  Unitarian 
church,  and  her  sympathies,  as  long  as  she  lived,  were 
with  that  denomination,  especially  with  the  more  liber- 
ally inclined  portion.  There  were  always  a  few  of  the 
teachers  and  some  of  the  students  who  sympathized 


240  MARIA    MITCHELL 

with  her  in  her  views;  but  she  usually  attended  the 
college  services  on  Sunday. 

President  Taylor,  of  Vassar  College,  in  his  remarks 
at  her  funeral,  stated  that  all  her  life  Professor  Mitchell 
had  been  seeking  the  truth, — that  she  was  not  willing 
to  accept  any  statement  without  studying  into  the 
matter  herself,  —  "  And,"  he  added,  "  I  think  she  has 
found  the  truth  she  was  seeking." 

Miss  Mitchell  never  obtruded  her  views  upon  others, 
nor  did  she  oppose  their  views.  She  bore  in  silence 
what  she  could  not  believe,  but  always  insisted  upon 
the  right  of  private  judgment. 

Miss  W.,  a  teacher  at  Vassar,  was  fretting  at  being 
obliged  to  attend  chapel  exercises  twice  a  day  when 
she  needed  the  time  for  rest  and  recreation,  and 
applied  to  Miss  Mitchell  for  help  in  getting  away  from 
it.  After  some  talk  Miss  Mitchell  said :  "  Oh,  well,  do 
as  /  do  —  sit  back  folding  your  arms,  and  think  of 
something  pleasant !  " 

"Sunday,  Dec.  18,  1866.  We  heard  two  sermons: 
the  first  in  the  afternoon,  by  Rev.  Mr.  A.,  Baptist,  the 
second  in  the  evening,  by  Rev.  Mr.  B.,  Congregationalist. 

"  Rev.  Mr.  A.  took  a  text  from  Deuteronomy,  about 
'  Moses ;  '  Rev.  Mr.  B.  took  a  text  from  Exodus,  about 
'  Moses;'  and  I  am  told  that  the  sermon  on  the  preced- 
ing Sunday  was  about  Moses. 

"  It  seems  to  me  strange  that  since  we  have  the 
history  of  Christ  in  the  New  Testament,  people  con- 
tinue to  preach  about  Moses. 

"  Rev.  Mr.  A.  was  a  man  of  about  forty  years  of  age. 
He  chanted  rather  than  read  a  hymn.  He  chanted  a 


RELIGIOUS   BELIEFS  241 

sermon.  His  description  of  the  journey  of  Moses 
towards  Canaan  had  some  interesting  points,  but  his 
manner  was  affected ;  he  cried,  or  pretended  to  cry,  at 
the  pathetic  points.  I  hope  he  really  cried,  for  a  weak- 
ness is  better  than  an  affectation  of  weakness.  He 
said,  *  The  unbeliever  is  already  condemned.'  It  seems 
to  me  that  if  anything  would  make  me  an  infidel,  it 
would  be  the  threats  lavished  against  unbelief. 

"  Mr.  B.  is  a  self-made  man,  the  son  of  a  blacksmith. 
He  brought  the  anvil,  the  hammer,  and  bellows  into  the 
pulpit,  and  he  pounded  and  blew,  for  he  was  in  ear- 
nest. I  felt  the  more  respect  for  him  because  he  was  in 
earnest.  But  when  he  snapped  his  fingers  and  said, 
1 1  don't  care  that  for  the  religion  of  a  man  which  does 
not  begin  with  prayer,'  I  was  provoked  at  his  forget- 
fulness  of  the  character  of  his  audience. 

"  1867.  I  am  more  and  more  disgusted  with  the 
preaching  that  I  hear !  .  .  .  Why  cannot  a  man  act 
himself,  be  himself,  and  think  for  himself  ?  It  seems  to 
me  that  naturalness  alone  is  power;  that  a  borrowed 
word -is  weaker  than  our  own  weakness,  however  small 
we  may  be.  If  I  reach  a  girl's  heart  or  head,  I  know  I 
must  reach  it  through  my  own,  and  not  from  bigger 
hearts  and  heads  than  mine. 

"  March,  1873.  There  was  something  so  genuine  and 
so  sincere  in  George  Macdonald  that  he  took  those  of 
us  who  were  emotional  completely  —  not  by  storm 
so  much  as  by  gentle  breezes.  .  .  .  What  he  said 
wasn't  profound  except  as  it  reached  the  depths  of  the 
heart.  .  .  .  He  gave  us  such  broad  theological 
lessons  !  In  his  sermon  he  said,  '  Don't  trouble  your- 


242  MARIA    MITCHELL 

self  about  what  you  believe,  but  do  the  will  of  God.' 
His  consciousness  of  the  existence  of  God  and  of  his 
immediate  supervision  was  felt  every  minute  by  those  who 
listened.  ,  .  ^  > 

"  He  stayed  several  days  at  the  college,  and  the  girls 
will  never  get  over  the  good  effects  of  those  three  days 
—  the  cheerier  views  of  life  and  death. 

".  .  .  Rev.  Dr.  Peabody  preached  for  us  yesterday, 
and  was  lovely.  Every  one  was  charmed  in  spite  of  his 
old-fashioned  ways.  His  voice  is  very  bad,  but  it  was 
such  a  simple,  common-sense  discourse !  Mr.  Vassar 
said  if  that  was  Unitarianism,  it  was  just  the  right  thing. 

"Aug.  29,  1875.  Went  to  a  Baptist  church,  and 
heard  Rev.  Mr.  F.  *  Christ  the  way,  the  only  way.' 
The  sermon  was  wholly  without  logic,  and  yet  he  said, 

0 

near  its  close,  that  those  who  had  followed  him  must 
be  convinced  that  this  was  true.  He  said  a  traveller 
whom  he  met  on  the  cars  admitted  that  we  all  desired 
heaven,  but  believed  that  there  were  as  m«any  ways  to 
it  as  to  Boston.  Mr.  F.  said  that  God  had  prepared 
but  one  way,  just  as  the  government  in  those  countries 
of  the  Old  World  whose  cities  were  upon  almost  inac- 
cessible pinnacles  had  prepared  one  way  of  approach. 
(It  occurred  to  me  that  if  those  governments  possessed 
godlike  powers,  they  would  have  made  a  great  many 
ways.) 

"  Mr.  F.  was  very  severe  upon  those  who  expect  to 
be  saved  by  their  own  deserts.  He  said,  '  You  tender 
a  farthing,  when  you  owe  a  million.'  I  could  not  see 
what  they  owed  at  all !  At  this  point  he  might  well  have 
given  some  attention  to  '  good  works;  '  and  if  he  must 


RELIGIOUS   BELIEFS  243 

mention  '  debt,'  he  might  well  remind  them  that  they  sat 
in  an  unpaid-for  church  ! 

"It  was  plain  that  he  relied  upon  his  anecdotes  for 
the  hold  upon  his  audience,  and  the  anecdotes  were 
attached  to  the  main  discourse  by  a  very  slender  thread 
of  connection.  I  felt  really  sad  to  know  that  not  a 
listener  would  lead  a  better  life  for  that  sermon  —  no  man 
or  woman  went  out  cheered,  or  comforted,  or  stimulated. 

"  On  the  whole,  it  is  strange  that  people  who  go  to 
church  are  no  worse  than  they  are ! 

"Sept.  26,  1880.  A  clergyman  said,  in  his  sermon, 
'  I  do  not  say  with  the  Frenchman,  if  there  were  no  God 
it  would  be  well  to  invent  one,  but  I  say,  if  there  were 
no  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments,  it  would  be 
better  to  believe  in  one.'  Did  he  mean  to  say,  '  Better 
to  believe  a  lie '  ? 

"  March  27,  1881.  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  preached.  I 
was  surprised  to  find  how  liberal  Congregational  preach- 
ing had  become,  for  he  said  he  hoped  and  expected  to 
see  women  at  the  bar  and  in  the  pulpit,  although  he 
believed  they  would  always  be  exceptional  cases.  He 
preached  mainly  on  the  motherhood  of  God,  and  his 
whole  sermon  was  a  tribute  to  womanhood.  V  •*•  •- .  I 
rejoice  at  the  ideal  womanhood  of  purity  which  he  put 
before  the  girls.  I  wish  some  one  would  preach  purity 
to  young  men. 

"July   i,    1883.     I    went   to    hear  Rev.  Mr. at 

the  Universalist  church.  He  enumerated  some  of  the 
dangers  that  threaten  us :  one  was  '  The  doctrines  of 
scientists/  and  he  named  Tyndale,  Huxley,  and  Spencer. 
I  was  most  surprised  at  his  fear  of  these  men.  Can  the 


244  MARIA    MITCHELL 

study  of  truth  do  harm?  Does  not  every  true  scientist 
seek  only  to  know  the  truth?  And  in  our  deep  igno- 
rance of  what  is  truth,  shall  we  dread  the  search  for  it? 

"  I  hold  the  simple  student  of  nature  in  holy  rever- 
ence ;  and  while  there  live  sensualists,  despots,  and 
men  who  are  wholly  self-seeking,  I  cannot  bear  to 
have  these  sincere  workers  held  up  in  the  least  degree 
to  reproach.  And  let  us  have  truth,  even  if  the  truth 
be  the  awful  denial  of  the  good  God.  We  must  face 
the  light  and  not  bury  our  heads  in  the  earth.  I  am 
hopeful  that  scientific  investigation,  pushed  on  and  on, 
will  reveal  new  ways  in  which  God  works,  and  bring  to 
us  deeper  revelations  of  the  wholly  unknown. 

"  The  physical  and  the  spiritual  seem  to  be,  at  pres- 
ent, separated  by  an  impassable  gulf;  but  at  any 
moment  that  gulf  may  be  overleaped  —  possibly  a  new 
revelation  may  come.  .  .  . ... 

''April,  1878.  I  called  on  Professor  Henry  at  the 
Smithsonian  Institute.  He  must  be  in  his  eightieth 
year ;  he  has  been  ill  and  seems  feeble,  but  he  is  still 
the  majestic  old  man,  unbent  in  figure  and  undimmed 
in  eye. 

"  I  always  remember,  when  I  see  him,  the  remark  of 
Dorothy  Dix,  '  He  is  the  truest  man  that  ever  lived.' 

"  We  were  left  alone  for  a  little  while,  and  he  intro- 
duced the  subject  of  his  nearness  to  death.  He  said, 
'The  National  Academy  has  raised  $40,000,  the  interest 
of  which  is  for  myself  and  family  as  long  as  any  of  us 
live  [he  has  daughters  only],  and  in  view  of  my  death 
it  is  a  great  comfort  to  me.'  I  ventured  to  ask  him  if 
he  feared  death  at  all.  He  said,  'Not  in  the  least;  I 


RELIGIOUS   BELIEFS.  245 

have  thought  of  it  a  great  deal,  and  have  come  to  feel 
it  a  friend.  I  cherish  the  belief  in  immortality;  I 
have  suffered  much,  at  times,  in  regard  to  that  matter.' 
Scientifically  considered,  only,  he  thought  the  proba- 
bility was  on  the  side  of  continued  existence,  as  we 
must  believe  that  spirit  existed  independent  of  matter. 

"  He  went  to  a  desk  and  pulled  out  from  a  drawer 
an  old  copy  of  '  Gregory's  Astronomy/  and  said,  '  That 
book  changed  my  whole  life  —  I  read  it  when  I  was 
sixteen  years  old ;  I  had  read,  previously,  works  of  the 
imagination  only,  and  at  sixteen,  being  ill  in  bed,  that 
book  was  near  me ;  I  read  it,  and  determined  to  study 
science.'  I  asked  him  if  a  life  of  science  was  a  good 
life,  and  he  said  that  he  felt  that  it  was  so. 

".  .  .  When  I  was  travelling  with  Miss  S.,  who 
was  near-sighted  and  kept  her  eyes  constantly  half- 
shut,  it  seemed  to  me  that  every  other  young  lady  I 
met  had  wide,  staring  eyes.  Now,  after  two  years 
sitting  by  a  person  who  never  reasons,  it  strikes  me 
that  every  other  person  whom  I  meet  has  been  think- 
ing hard,  and  his  logic  stands  out  a  prominent  charac- 
teristic. 

"  Aug.  27,  1879.  Scientific  Association  met  at  Sara- 
toga. .  .  .  Professor  Peirce,  now  over  seventy  years 
old,  was  much  the  same  as  ever.  He  went  on  in  the 
cars  with  us,  and  was  reading  Mallock's  '  Is  Life 
Worth  Living?'  and  I  asked,  'Is  it?'  to  which  Profes- 
sor Peirce  replied,  'Yes,  I  think  it  is.'  Then  I  asked, 
1  If  there  is  no  future  state,  is  life  worth  living?  '  He 
replied,  'Indeed  it  is  not;  life  is  a  cruel  tragedy  if 
there  is  no  immortality.'  I  asked  him  if  he  conceived 


246  MARIA    MITCHELL 

of  the  future  life  as  one  of  embodiment,  and  he  said 
'Yes;  I  believe  with  St.  Paul  that  there  is  a  spiritual 
body.  .  .  .' 

"  Professor  Peirce's  paper  was  on  the  '  Heat  of  the 
Sun;'  he  considers  the  sun  fed  not  by  impact  of 
meteors,  but  by  the  compression  of  meteors.  I  did  not 
think  it  very  sound.  He  said  some  good  things : 
'Where  the  truth  demands,  accept;  what  the  truth 
denies,  reject/ 

"Concord,  Mass.,  1879.  To  establish  a  school  of 
philosophy  had  been  the  dream  of  Alcott's  life  ;  and  there 
he  sat  as  I  entered  the  vestry  of  a  church  on  one  of  the 
hottest  days  in  August.  He  looked  full  as  young  as  he 
did  twenty  years  ago,  when  he  gave  us  a  '  conversation ' 
in  Lynn.  "  Elizabeth  Peabody  came  into  the  room, 
and  walked  up  to  the  seat  of  the  rulers ;  her  white  hair 
streamed  over  her  shoulders  in  wild  carelessness,  and 
she  was  as  careless  as  ever  about  her  whole  attire,  but 
it  was  beautiful  to  see  the  attention  shown  to  her  by 
Mr.  Alcott  and  Mr.  Sanborn. 

"  Emerson  entered,  —  pale,  thin,  almost  ethereal  in 
countenance,  —  followed  by  his  daughter,  who  sat  be- 
side him  and  watched  every  word  that  he  uttered.  On 
the  whole,  it  was  the  same  Emerson  —  he  stumbled  at 
a  quotation  as  he  always  did ;  but  his  thoughts  were 
such  as  only  Emerson  could  have  thought,  and  the 
sentences  had  the  Emersonian  pithiness.  He  made  his 
frequent  sentences  very  emphatic.  It  was  impossible 
to  see  any  thread  of  connection  ;  but  it  always  was  so  — 
the  oracular  sentences  made  the  charm.  The  subject 
was  '  Memory/  He  said,  '  We  remember  the  selfish- 


RELIGIOUS   BELIEFS.  247 

ness  or  the  wrong  act  that  we  have  committed  for 
years.  It  is  as  it  should  be  —  Memory  is  the  police- 
officer  of  the  universe.'  'Architects  say  that  the  arch 
never  rests,  and  so  the  past  never  rests.'  (Was  it,  never 
sleeps?)  'When  I  talk  with  my  friend  who  is  a  gene- 
alogist, I  feel  that  I  am  talking  with  a  ghost.' 

"The  little  vestry,  fitted  perhaps  for  a  hundred 
people,  was  packed  with  two  hundred,  —  all  people  of 
an  intellectual  cast  of  face,  —  and  the  attention  was 
intense.  The  thermometer  was  ninety  in  the  shade ! 

"  I  did  not  speak  to  Mr.  Emerson ;  I  felt  that  I  must 
not  give  him  a  bit  of  extra  fatigue. 

"July  12,  1880.  The  school  of  philosophy  has 
built  a  shanty  for  its  meetings,  but  it  is  a  shanty  to  be 
proud  of,  for  it  is  exactly  adapted  to  its  needs.  It  is  a 
long  but  not  low  building,  entirely  without  finish,  but 
water-tight.  A  porch  for  entrance,  and  a  recess  simi- 
lar at  the  opposite  end,  which  makes  the  place  for  the 
speakers.  There  was  a  small  table  upon  the  platform 
on  which  were  pond  lilies,  some  shelves  around,  and  a 
few  busts  —  one  of  Socrates,  I  think. 

"  I  went  in  the  evening  to  hear  Dr.  Harris  on  '  Philos- 
ophy.' The  rain  began  to  come  down  soon  after  I 
entered,  and  my  philosophy  was  not  sufficient  to  keep 
me  from  the  knowledge  that  I  had  neither  overshoes 
nor  umbrella ;  I  remembered,  too,  that  it  was  but  a  nar- 
row foot-path  through  the  wet  grass  to  the  omnibus. 
But  I  listenecf  to  Dr.  Harris,  and  enjoyed  it.  He 
lauded  Fichte  as  the  most  accurate  philosopher  follow- 
ing Kant  —  he  said  not  of  the  greatest  breadth,  but  the 
most  acute. 


248  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  After  Dr.  Harris'  address,  Mr.  Alcott  made  a  few 
remarks  that  were  excellent,  and  said  that  when  we 
had  studied  philosophy  for  fifteen  years,  as  the  lecturer 
had  done,  we  might  know  something;  but  as  it  was, 
he  had  pulled  *  us  to  pieces  and  then  put  us  together 
again. 

"  The  audience  numbered  sixty  persons. 

"May,  1880.  I  have  just  finished  Miss  Peabody's 
account  of  Channing.  I  have  been  more  interested  in 
Miss  Peabody  than  in  Channing,  and  have  felt  how 
valuable  she  must  have  been  to  him.  How  many  of 
Channing' s  sermons  were  instigated  by  her  questions ! 
.'  Y  .  Miss  Peabody  must  have  been  very  remarkable 
as  a  young  woman  to  ask  the  questions  which  she  asked 
at  twenty. 

"  April,  1 88 1.  The  waste  of  flowers  on  Easter  Sun- 
day distressed  me.  Something  is  due  to  the  flowers 
themselves.  They  are  massed  together  like  a  bushel  of 
corn,  and  look  like  red  and  white  sugar-plums  as  seen  in 
a  confectioner's  window. 

"  A  pillow  of  flowers  is  a  monstrosity.  A  calla  lily 
in  a  vase  is  a  beautiful  creation ;  so  is  a  single  rose. 
But  when  the  rose  is  crushed  by  a  pink  on  each  side  of 
it,  and  daisies  crush  the  pinks,  and  azaleas  surround  the 
daisies,  there  is  no  beauty  and  no  fitness. 

"  The  cathedral  had  no  flowers. 

"Aug.  22,  1882.  We  visited  Whittier;  we  found 
him  at  lunch,  but  he  soon  came  into  the  parlor.  He 
was  very  chatty,  and  seemed  glad  to  see  us.  Mrs.  L. 
was  with  me,  and  Whittier  was  very  ready  to  write  in 
the  album  which  she  brought  with  her,  belonging  to 


RELIGIOUS   BELIEFS  249 

her  adopted  son.  We  drifted  upon  theological  subjects, 
and  I  asked  Mr.  Whittier  if  he  thought  that  we  fell  from 
a  state  of  innocence ;  he  replied  that  he  thought  we 
were  better  than  Adam  and  Eve,  and  if  they  fell,  they 
'  fell  up.' 

"  His  faith  seems  to  be  unbounded  in  the  goodness 
of  God,  and  his  belief  in  moral  accountability.  He 
said,  '  I  am  a  good  deal  of  a  Quaker  in  my  conviction 
that  a  light  comes  to  me  to  dictate  to  me  what  is 
right.'  We  stayed  about  an  hour,  and  we  were  afraid 
it  would  be  too  much  for  him;  but  Miss  Johnson,  his 
cousin,  who  lives  with  him,  assured  us  that  it  was  good 
for  him ;  and  he  himself  said  that  he  was  sorry  to  have 
us  go. 

"  One  thing  that  he  said,  I  noted :  that  his  fancy  was 
for  farm-work,  but  he  was  not  strong  enough ;  he  had 
as  a  young  man  some  literary  ambition,  but  never 
thought  of  attaining  the  reputation  which  had  come  to 
him. 

"July  31,  1883.  I  have  had  two  or  three  rich  days ! 
On  Friday  last  I  went  to  Holderness,  N.H.,  to  the 
Asquam  House ;  I  had  been  asked  by  Mrs.  T.  to  join 
her  party.  There  were  at  this  house  Mr.  Whittier, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cartland,  Professor  and  Mrs.  Johnson,  of 
Yale,  Mr.  Williams,  the  Chinese  scholar,  his  brother,  an 
Episcopal  clergyman,  and  several  others.  The  house 
seemed  full  of  fine,  cultivated  people.  We  stayed  two 
days  and  a  half. 

"And  first  of  the  scenery.  The  road  up  to  the  house 
is  a  steep  hill,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  it  winds  and 
turns  around  two  lakes.  The  panorama  is  complete 


250  MARIA   MITCHELL 

one  hundred  and  eighty  degrees.  Beyond  the  lakes  lie 
the  mountains.  We  do  not  see  Mt.  Washington.  The 
house  has  a  piazza  nearly  all  around  it.  We  had  a  room 
on  the  first  floor  —  large,  and  with  two  windows  opening 
to  the  floor. 

"The  programme  of  the  day's  work  was  delightfully 
monotonous.  For  an  hour  or  so  after  breakfast  we 
sat  in  the  ladies'  parlor,  we  sewed,  and  we  told  anec- 
dotes. Whittier  talked  beautifully,  almost  always  on 
the  future  state  and  his  confidence  in  it.  Occasion- 
ally he  touched  upon  persons.  He  seems  to  have 
loved  Lydia  Maria  Child  greatly. 

"When  the  cool  of  the  morning  was  over,  we  went 
out  upon  the  piazza,  and  later  on  we  went  under  the 
trees,  where,  it  is  said,  Whittier  spends  most  of  the 
time. 

"  There  was  little  of  the  old-time  theology  in  his 
views ;  his  faith  has  been  always  very  firm.  Mr.  Cart- 
land  asked  me  one  day  if  I  really  felt  there  was  any 
doubt  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  I  told  him  that 
on  the  whole  I  believed  it  more  than  I  doubted  it,  but  I 
could  not  say  that  I  felt  no  doubt.  Whittier  asked  me 
if  there  were  no  immortality  if  I  should  be  distressed 
by  it,  and  I  told  him  that  I  should  be  exceedingly  dis- 
tressed ;  that  it  was  the  only  thing  that  I  craved.  He 
said  that  '  annihilation  was  better  for  the  wicked  than 
everlasting  punishment,'  and  to  that  I  assented.  He 
said  that  he  thought  there  might  be  persons  so  depraved 
as  not  to  be  worth  saving.  I  asked  him  if  God  made 
such.  Nobody  seemed  ready  to  reply.  Besides  my- 
self there  was  another  of  the  party  to  whom  a  dying 


RELIGIOUS   BELIEFS  2$  I 

friend  had  promised  to  return,  if  possible,  but  had  not 
come. 

"Whittier  believed  that  they  did  sometimes  come. 
He  said  that  of  all  whom  he  had  lost,  no  one  would  be 
so  welcome  to  him  as  Lydia  Maria  Child. 

"We  held  a  little  service  in  the  parlor  of  the  hotel, 
and  Mrs.  C.  read  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  John.  Rev. 
Mr.  W.  read  a  sermon  from  '  The  pure  in  heart  shall 
see  God/  written  by  Parkhurst,  of  New  York.  He 
thought  the  child  should  be  told  that  in  heaven  he 
should  have  his  hobby-horse.  After  the  service,  when 
we  talked  it  over,  I  objected  to  telling  the  child  this. 
Whittier  did  not  object ;  he  said  that  Luther  told  his 
little  boy  that  he  should  have  a  little  dog  with  a  golden 
tail  in  heaven. 

"Aug.  26,  1886.  I  have  been  to  see  an  exhibition 
of  a  cooking  school.  I  found  sixteen  girls  in  the  base- 
ment of  a  school-house.  They  had  long  tables,  across 
which  stretched  a  line  of  gas-stoves  and  jets  of  gas. 
Some  of  the  girls  were  using  saucepans ;  they  set  them 
upon  the  stove,  and  then  sat  down  where  they  could 
see  a  clock  while  the  boiling  process  went  on. 

"  At  one  table  a  girl  was  cutting  out  doughnuts ;  at 
another  a  girl  was  making  a  pudding  —  a  layer  of  bits 
of  bread  followed  by  a  layer  of  fruit.  Each  girl  had 
her  rolling-pin,  and  moulding-board  or  saucepan. 

"  The  chief  peculiarity  of  these  processes  was  the 
cleanliness.  The  rolling-pins  were  clean,  the  knives 
were  clean,  the  aprons  were  clean,  the  hands  were  clean. 
Not  a  drop  was  spilled,  not  a  crumb  was  dropped. 

"  If  into  the  kitchen  of  the  crowded  mother  there 


252  MARIA    MITCHELL 

could  come  the  utensils,  the  commodities,  the  clean 
towels,  the  ample  time,  there  would  come,  without  the 
lessons,  a  touch  of  the  millennium. 

"  I  am  always  afraid  of  manual-labor  schools.  I  am 
not  afraid  that  these  girls  could  not  read,  for  every 
American  girl  reads,  and  to  read  is  much  more  impor- 
tant than  to  cook ;  but  I  am  afraid  that  not  all  can  write 
—  some  of  them  were  not  more  than  twelve  years  old. 

"And  what  of  the  boys?  Must  a  common  cook 
always  be  a  girl?  and  must  a  boy  not  cook  unless  on 
the  top  of  the  ladder,  with  the  pay  of  the  president  of 
Harvard  College? 

"  I  am  jealous  for  the  schools ;  I  have  heard  a  gen- 
tleman who  stands  high  in  science  declare  that  the 
cooking  schools  would  eventually  kill  out  every  literary 
college  in  the  land  —  for  women.  But  why  not  for 
men?  If  the  food  for  the  body  is  more  important  than 
the  food  for  the  mind,  let  us  destroy  the  latter  and 
accept  the  former,  but  let  us  not  continue  to  do  what 
has  been  tried  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  —  to  keep  one 
half  of  the  world  to  the  starvation  of  the  mind,  in  order 
to  feed  better  the  physical  condition  of  the  other  half. 

"  Let  us  have  cooks ;  but  let  us  leave  it  a  matter  of 
choice,  as  we  leave  the  dressmaking  and  the  shoe- 
making,  the  millinery  and  the  carpentry,  —  free  to  be 
chosen ! 

"  There  are  cultivated  and  educated  women  who 
enjoy  cooking;  so  there  are  cultivated  men  who  enjoy 
Kensington  embroidery.  Who  objects?  But  take  care 
that  some  rousing  of  the  intellect  comes  first,  —  that  it 
may  be  an  enlightened  choice,  —  and  do  not  so  fill  the 


RELIGIOUS    BELIEFS  253 

day  with  bread  and  butter  and  stitches  that  no  time  is 
left  for  the  appreciation  of  Whittier,  letting  at  least  the 
simple  songs  of  daily  life  and  the  influence  of  rhythm 
beautify  the  dreary  round  of  the  three  meals  a  day." 

Miss  Mitchell  had  a  stock  of  conundrums  on  hand, 
and  was  a  good  guesser.  She  told  her  stories  at  all 
times  when  they  happened  to  come  into  her  mind.  She 
would  arrive  at  her  sister's  house,  just  from  Poughkeepsie 
on  a  vacation,  and  after  the  threshold  was  crossed  and 
she  had  said  "  Good  morning,"  in  a  clear  voice  to  be 
heard  by  all  within  her  sight,  she  would,  perhaps,  say, 
"  Well,  I  have  a  capital  story  which  I  must  tell  before  I 
take  my  bonnet  off,  or  I  shall  forget  it !  "  And  there 
went  with  her  telling  an  action,  voice,  and  manner  which 
added  greater  point  to  the  story,  but  which  cannot  be 
described.  One  of  her  associates  at  Vassar,  in  recalling 
some  of  her  anecdotes,  writes  :  "  Professor  Mitchell  was 
quite  likely  to  stand  and  deliver  herself  of  a  bright  little 
speech  before  taking  her  seat  at  breakfast.  It  was  as 
though  the  short  walk  from  the  observatory  had  been 
an  inspiration  to  thought." 

She  was  quick  at  repartee.  On  one  occasion  Char- 
lotte Cushman  and  her  friend  Miss  Stebbins  were  visiting 
Miss  Mitchell  at  Vassar.  Miss  Mitchell  took  them  out 
for  a  drive,  and  pointed  out  the  different  objects  of 
interest  as  they  drove  along  the  banks  of  the  Hudson, 
"  What  is  that  fine  building  on  the  hill?"  asked  Miss 
Cushman.  —  "That,"  said  Miss  Mitchell,  "was  a  boys' 
school,  originally,  but  it  is  now  used  as  a  hotel,  where 
they  charge  five  dollars  a  day  !  "  —  "  Five  dollars  a  day  ?  " 
exclaimed  Miss  Cushman  ;  "  Jupiter  Ammon  !  "  —  "  No," 


254  MARIA    MITCHELL 

said  Miss  Stebbins,  "  Jupiter  Mammon  !  "  — -"  Not  at  all," 
said  Miss  Mitchell,  "  Jupiter  gammon!" 

"  Farewell,  Maria,"  said  an  old  Friend,  "  I  hope  the 
Lord  will  be  with  thee." 

"  Good-by,"  she  replied,  "  I  know  he  will  be  with  you." 

A  characteristic  trait  in  Miss  Mitchell  was  her  aver- 
sion to  receiving  unsolicited  advice  in  regard  to  her 
private  affairs.  "  A  suggestion  is  an  impertinence,"  she 
would  often  say.  The  following  anecdote  shows  how 
she  received  such  counsel : 

A  literary  man  of  more  than  national  reputation  said 
to  one  of  her  admirers,  "  I,  for  one,  cannot  endure  your 
Maria  Mitchell."  At  her  solicitation  he  explained  why  ; 
and  his  reason  was,  as  she  had  anticipated,  founded  on 
personal  pique.  It  seems  he  had  gone  up  from  New 
York  to  Poughkeepsie  especially  to  call  upon  Professor 
Mitchell.  During  the  course  of  conversation,  with  that 
patronizing  condescension  which  some  self-important 
men  extend  to  all  women  indiscriminately,  he  proceeded 
to  inform  her  that  her  manner  of  living  was  not  in 
accordance  with  his  ideas  of  expediency.  "  Now,"  he 
said,  "  instead  of  going  for  each  one  of  your  meals  all 
the  way  from  your  living-rooms  in  the  observatory 
over  to  the  dining-hall  in  the  college  building,  I  should 
think  it  would  be  far  more  convenient  and  sensible  for 
you  to  get  your  breakfast,  at  least,  right  in  your  own 
apartments.  In  the  morning  you  could  make  a  cup  of 
coffee  and  boil  an  egg  with  almost  no  trouble."  At 
which  Professor  Mitchell  drew  herself  up  with  the  air  of 
a  tragic  queen,  saying,  "  And  is  my  time  worth  no  more 
than  to  boil  eggs  ?  " 


DEATH  255 


CHAPTER    XIII 

MISS   MITCHELL'S    LETTERS  —  WOMAN   SUFFRAGE  —  MEMBERSHIP 
IN    VARIOUS     SOCIETIES PUBLISHED    ARTICLES DEATH 

CONCLUSION 

Miss  MITCHELL  was  a  voluminous  letter  writer  and 
an  excellent  correspondent,  but  her  letters  are  not 
essays,  and  not  at  all  in  the  approved  style  of  the 
"  Complete  Letter  Writer."  If  she  had  any  particular 
thing  to  communicate,  she  rushed  into  the  subject  in 
the  first  line.  In  writing  to  her  own  family  and  intimate 
friends,  she  rarely  signed  her  full  name;  sometimes 
she  left  it  out  altogether,  but  ordinarily  "  M.  M."  was 
appended  abruptly  when  she  had  expressed  all  that  she 
had  to  say.  She  wrote  as  she  talked,  with  directness 
and  promptness.  No  one,  in  watching  her  while  she 
was  writing  a  letter,  ever  saw  her  pause  to  think 
what  she  should  say  next  or  how  she  should  express 
the  thought.  When  she  came  to  that  point,  the 
"  M.  M."  was  instantly  added.  She  had  no  secretive- 
ness,  and  in  looking  over  her  letters  it  has  been  almost 
impossible  to  find  one  which  did  not  contain  too  much 
that  was  personal,  either  about  herself  or  others,  to 
make  it  proper;  especially  as  she  herself  would  be  very 
unwilling  to  make  the  affairs  of  others  public. 

"Oct.  22,  i860.  I  have  spent  $100  on  dress  this 
year.  I  have  a  ver>  pretty  new  felt  bonnet  of  the 


256  MARIA    MITCHELL 

fashionable  shape,  trimmed  with  velvet;  it  cost  only 
$7,  which,  of  course,  was  pitifully  cheap  for  Broadway. 
If  thou  thinks  after  $100  it  wouldn't  be  extravagant  for 
me  to  have  a  waterproof  cloak  and  a  linsey-woolsey 
morning  dress,  please  to  send  me  patterns  of  the  latter 
material  and  a  description  of  waterproofs  of  various 
prices.  They  are  so  ugly,  and  I  am  so  ditto,  that  I  feel 
if  a  few  dollars,  more  or  less,  would  make  me  look 
better,  even  in  a  storm,  I  must  not  mind  it." 

"  My  orthodoxy  is  settled  beyond  dispute,  I  trust,  by 
the  following  circumstance :  The  editor  of  a  New  York 
magazine  has  written  to  me  to  furnish  an  article  for  the 
Christmas  number  on  '  The  Star  in  the  East.'  I  have 
ventured,  in  my  note  of  declination,  to  mention  that  if  I 
investigated  that  subject  I  might  decide  that  there  was 
no  star  in  the  case,  and  then  what  would  become  of 
me,  and  where  should  I  go  ?  Since  that  he  has  not 
written,  so  I  may  have  hung  myself! 

"1879.  April  25.  I  have  'done'  New  York  very 
much  as  we  did  it  thirty  years  ago.  On  Saturday  I 
went  to  Miss  Booth's  reception,  and  it  was  like  Miss 
Lynch's,  only  larger  than  Miss  Lynch's  was  when  I  was 
there.  .  .  .  Miss  Booth  and  a  friend  live  on  Fifty- 
ninth  street,  and  have  lived  together  for  years.  Miss 
Booth  is  a  nice-looking  woman.  She  says  she  has 
often  been  told  that  she  looked  like  me ;  she  has  gray 
hair  and  black  eyes,  but  is  fair  and  well-cut  in  feature. 
I  had  a  very  nice  time. 

"  On  Sunday  I  went  to  hear  Frothingham,  and  he  was 
at  his  very  best.  The  subject  was  '  Aspirations  of 
Man,'  and  the  sermon  was  rich  in  thought  and  in  word. 


DEATH  257 

0  •     ,~    Frothingham's  discourse  was  more  cheery  than 
usual ;  he  talked  about  the  wonderful  idea  of  personal 
immortality,  and  he  said  if  it  be  a  dream  of  the  imagi- 
nation let  us  worship  the  imagination.     He  spoke  of 
Mrs.  Child's  book  on  '  Aspirations,'  and  I  shall  order  it 
at  once.     The  only  satire  was  such  a  sentence  as  this : 
on  speaking  of  a  piece  of  Egyptian  sculpture  he  said, 
'  The  gates  of  heaven  opened  to  the  good,  not  to  the 
orthodox/ 

"  To-day,  Monday,  I  have  been  to  a  public  school  (a 
primary)  and  to  Stewart's  mansion.  I  asked  the  major- 
domo  to  take  us  through  the  rooms  on  the  lower  floor, 
which  he  did.  I  know  of  no  palace  which  comes  up 
to  it.  The  palaces  always  have  a  look  as  if  at  some 
point  they  needed  refurbishing  up.  I  suppose  that 
Mrs.  Stewart  uses  that  dining-room,  but  it  did  not  look 
as  if  it  was  made  to  eat  in.  I  still  like  Ger6me's 

1  Chariot  Race  '  better  than  anything  else  of  his.     The 
'  Horse  Fair '  was  too  high  up  for  me  to  enjoy  it,  and  a 
little  too  mixed  up. 

"  1873.  St.  Petersburg  is  another  planet,  and,  strange 
to  say,  is  an  agreeable  planet.  Some  of  these  Euro- 
peans are  far  ahead  of  us  in  many  things.  I  think  we 
are  in  advance  only  in  one  universal  democracy  of 
freedom.  But  then,  that  is  everything. 

"Nov.  17,  1875.  I  think  you  are  right  to  decide  to 
make  your  home  pleasant  at  any  sacrifice  which  in- 
volves only  silence.  And  you  are  so  all  over  a  radi- 
cal, that  it  won't  hurt  you  to  be  toned  down  a  little, 
and  in  a  few  years,  as  the  world  moves,  your  family 
will  have  moved  one  way  and  you  the  other  a  little, 


258  MARIA    MITCHELL 

and  you  will  suddenly  find  yourself  on  the  same 
plane.  It  is  much  the  way  that  has  been  between  Miss 

and  myself.  To-day  she  is  more  of  a  women's 

rights  woman  than  I  was  when  I  first  knew  her,  while 
I  begin  to  think  that  the  girls  would  better  dress  at  tea- 
time,  though  I  think  on  that  subject  we  thought  alike 
at  first,  so  I'll  take  another  example. 

"  I  have  learned  to  think  that  a  young  girl  would 
better  not  walk  to  town  alone,  even  in  the  daytime. 
When  I  came  to  Vassar  I  should  have  allowed  a  child 
to  do  it.  But  I  never  knew  much  of  the  world  —  never 
shall  —  nor  will  you.  And  as  we  were  both  born  a 
little  deficient  in  worldly  caution  and  worldly  policy, 
let  us  receive  from  others  those  lessons,  —  do  as  well 
as  we  can,  and  keep  our  heart  unworldly  if  our  manners 
take  on  something  of  those  ways. 

"Oct.  25,  1875.  .  v  .  I  have  scarcely  got  over 
the  tire  of  the  congress1  yet,  although  it  is  a  week  since 
I  returned.  I  feel  as  if  a  great  burden  was  lifted  from 
my  soul.  You  will  see  my  '  speech'  in  the  'Woman's 
Journal/  but  in  the  last  sentence  it  should  be  '  eastward ' 
and  not  '  ^r//2ward.'  It  was  a  grand  affair,  and  babies 
came  in  arms.  School-boys  stood  close  to  the  platform, 
and  school-girls  came,  books  in  hand.  The  hall  was  a 
beautiful  opera-house,  and  could  hold  at  least  one  thou- 
sand seven  hundred.  It  was  packed  and  jammed,  and 
rough  men  stood  in  the  aisles.  When  I  had  to  speak 
to  announce  a  paper  I  stood  very  still  until  they  became 
quiet.  Once,  as  I  stood  in  that  way,  a  man  at  the 

1  The  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Women, 
of  which  Miss  Mitchell  was  president.  It  was  held  at  Syracuse,  N.Y.,  in  18/5. 


DEATH  259 

extreme  rear,  before  I  had  spoken  a  word,  shouted  out, 
1  Louder  !  '  We  all  burst  into  a  laugh.  Then,  of  course, 
I  had  to  make  them  quiet  again.  I  lifted  the  little 
mallet,  but  I  did  not  strike  it,  and  they  all  became  still. 
I  was  surprised  at  the  good  breeding  of  such  a  crowd. 
In  the  evening  about  half  was  made  up  of  men.  I 
could  not  have  believed  that  such  a  crowd  would  keep 
still  when  I  asked  them  to. 

"  They  say  I  did  well.  Think  of  my  developing  as 
a  president  of  a  social  science  society  in  my  old  age  !  " 

Miss  Mitchell  took  no  prominent  part  in  the  woman 
suffrage  movement,  but  she  believed  in  it  firmly,  and 
its  leaders  were  some  of  her  most  highly  valued  friends. 

"Sept.  7,  1875.  Went  to  a  picnic  for  woman  suf- 
frage at  a  beautiful  grove  at  Medfield,  Mass.  It  was  a 
gathering  of  about  seventy-five  persons  (mostly  from 
Needham),  whose  president  seemed  to  be  vigorous  and 
good-spirited. 

"  The  main  purpose  of  the  meeting  was  to  try  to 
affect  public  sentiment  to  such  an  extent  as  to  lead  to 
the  defeat  of  a  man  who,  when  the  subject  of  woman 
suffrage  was  before  the  Legislature,  said  that  the  women 
had  all  they  wanted  now  —  that  they  could  get  anything 
with  '  their  eyes  as  bright  as  the  buttons  on  an  angel's 
coat.'  Lucy  Stone,  Mr.  Blackwell,  Rev.  Mr.  Bush,  Miss 
Eastman,  and  William  Lloyd  Garrison  spoke. 

"  Garrison  did  not  look  a  day  older  than  when  I  first 
saw  him,  forty  years  ago;  he  spoke  well  —  they  said 
with  less  fire  than  he  used  in  his  younger  days.  Gar- 
rison said  what  every  one  says  —  that  the  struggle  for 
women  was  the  old  anti-slavery  struggle  over  again;. 


260  MARIA    MITCHELL 

that  as  he  looked  around  at  the  audience  beneath  the 
trees,  it  seemed  to  be  the  same  scene  that  he  had 
known  before. 

"  .  .  .  We  had  a  very  good  bit  of  missionary  work 
done  at  our  table  (at  Vassar)  to-day.  A  man  whom 
we  all  despise  began  to  talk  against  voting  by  women. 
I  felt  almost  inclined  to  pay  him  something  for  his 
remarks. 

"  A  group  from  the  Washington  Women  Suffrage 
Association  stopped  here  to-day.  ,  .  .  I  liked 
Susan  B.  Anthony  very  much.  She  seemed  much 
worn,  but  was  all  alive.  She  is  eighteen  months 
younger  than  I,  but  seems  much  more  alert.  I  suppose 
brickbats  are  livelier  than  logarithms  !  " 

Miss  Mitchell  was  a  member  of  several  learned  soci- 
eties. 

She  was  the  first  woman  elected  to  membership  of 
the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  whose 
headquarters  are  at  Boston. 

In  1869  she  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  a  society  founded  by  Benjamin 
Franklin,  in  Philadelphia. 

The  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science  made  her  a  member  in  the  early  part  of  its 
existence.  Miss  Mitchell  was  one  of  the  earliest  mem- 
bers of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Women.  At  one  period  she  was  president  of 
the  association,  and  for  many  years  served  as  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  science.  In  this  latter  capacity 
she  reached,  through  circulars  and  letters,  women 
studying  science  in  all  parts  of  the  country;  and  the 


DEATH  26l 

reports,  as  shown  from  year  to  year,  show  a  wonderful 
increase  in  the  number  of  such  women.  She  was  a 
member,  also,  of  the  New  England  Women's  Club, 
of  Boston,  and  after  her  annual  visit  at  Christmas  she 
entertained  her  students  at  Vassar  with  descriptions  of 
the  receptions  and  meeting  of  that  body.  She  was 
also  a  member  of  the  New  York  Sorosis.  She  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  Ph.D.  from  Rutgers  Female 
College  in  1870,  her  first  degree  of  LL.D.  from 
Hanover  College  in  1832,  and  her  last  LL.D.  from  Co- 
lumbia College  in  1887. 

Miss  Mitchell  had  no  ambition  to  appear  in  print, 
and  most  of  her  published  articles  were  in  response  to 
applications  from  publishers. 

A  paper  entitled  "  Mary  Somerville  "  appeared  in 
the  "  Atlantic  Monthly"  for  May,  1860.  There  were 
several  articles  in  "  Silliman's  Journal,"  —  mostly  results 
of  observations  on  Jupiter  and  Saturn,  —  a  few  popular 
science  papers  in  "  Hours  at  Home,"  and  one  on  the 
"  Herschels,"  printed  in  "  The  Century  "  just  after  her 
death. 

Miss  Mitchell  also  read  a  few  lectures  to  small  socie- 
ties, and  to  one  or  two  girls'  schools;  but  she  never 
allowed  such  outside  work  to  interfere  with  her  duties 
at  Vassar  College,  to  which  she  devoted  herself  heart 
and  soul. 

When  the  failure  of  her  health  became  apparent  to 
the  members  of  her  family,  it  was  with  the  utmost  diffi- 
culty that  Miss  Mitchell  could  be  prevailed  upon  to 
resign  her  position.  She  had  fondly  hoped  to  remain 
at  Vassar  until  she  should  be  seventy  years  old,  of 


262  MARIA    MITCHELL 

which  she  lacked  about  six  months.  It  was  hoped 
that  complete  rest  might  lead  to  several  years  more  of 
happy  life  for  her ;  but  it  was  not  to  be  so  —  she  died 
in  Lynn,  June  28,  1889. 

It  was  one  of  Miss  Mitchell's  boasts  that  she  had 
earned  a  salary  for  over  fifty  years,  without  any  inter- 
mission. She  also  boasted  that  in  July,  1883,  when 
she  slipped  and  fell,  spraining  herself  so  that  she  was 
obliged  to  remain  in  the  house  a  day  or  two,  it  was 
the  first  time  in  her  memory  when  she  had  remained 
in  the  house  a  day.  In  fact,  she  made  a  point  of 
walking  out  every  day,  no  matter  what  the  weather 
might  be.  A  serious  fall,  during  her  illness  in  Lynn, 
stopped  forever  her  daily  walks. 

She  had  resigned  her  position  in  January,  1888. 
The  resignation  was  laid  on  the  table  until  the  follow- 
ing June,  at  which  time  the  trustees  made  her  Professor 
Emeritus,  and  offered  her  a  home  for  life  at  the  observ- 
atory. This  offer  she  did  not  accept,  preferring  to  live 
with  her  family  in  Lynn.  The  following  extracts  from 
letters  which  she  received  at  this  time  show  with  what 
reverence  and  love  she  was  regarded  by  faculty  and 
students. 

"Jan.  9,  1888.  .  .  .  You  may  be  sure  that  we 
shall  be  glad  to  do  all  we  can  to  honor  one  whose  faith- 
ful service  and  honesty  of  heart  and  life  have  been 
among  the  chief  inspirations  of  Vassar  College  through- 
out its  history.  Of  public  reputation  you  have  doubtless 
had  enough,  but  I  am  sure  you  cannot  have  too  much 
of  the  affection  and  esteem  which  we  feel  toward  you, 
who  have  had  the  privilege  of  working  with  you." 


DEATH  263 

"  Jan.  10,  1888.  You  will  consent,  you  must  consent, 
to  having  your  home  here,  and  letting  the  work  go.  It 
is  not  astronomy  that  is  wanted  and  needed,  it  is  Maria 
Mitchell.  .  .  .  The  richest  part  of  my  life  here  is 
connected  with  you.  ...  I  cannot  picture  Vassar 
without  you.  There's  nothing  to  point  to  !  " 

"  May  5,  1889.  In  all  the  great  wonder  of  life,  you 
have  given  me  more  of  what  I  have  wanted  than  any 
other  creature  ever  gave  me.  I  hoped  I  should  amount 
to  something  for  your  sake." 

Dr.  Eliza  M.  Mosher,  at  one  time  resident  physician 
at  the  college,  said  of  her :  "  She  was  quick  to  with- 
draw objections  when  she  was  convinced  of  error  in  her 
judgment.  I  well  remember  her  opposition  to  the 
ground  I  took  in  my  '  maidea  speech  '  in  faculty  meet- 
ing, and  how,  at  supper,  she  stood,  before  sitting  down, 
to  say,  '  You  were  right  this  afternoon.  I  have  thought 
the  matter  over,  and,  while  I  do  not  like  to  believe  it,  I 
think  it  is  true.'  " 

Of  her  rooms  at  the  observatory,  Miss  Grace  Anna 
Lewis,  who  had  been  a  guest,  wrote  thus:  "  Her  furni- 
ture was  plain  and  simple,  and  there  was  a  frank  sim- 
plicity corresponding  therewith  which  made  me  believe 
she  chose  to  have  it  so.  It  looked  natural  for  her.  I 
think  I  should  have  been  disappointed  had  I  found  her 
rooms  fitted  up  with  undue  elegance." 

"  Professor  Mitchell's  position  at  Vassar  gave  astron- 
omy a  prominence  there  that  it  has  never  had  in  any- 
other  college  for  women,  and  in  but  few  for  men.  I 
suppose  it  would  have  made  no  difference  what  she 
had  taught.  Doubtless  she  never  suspected  how  many 


264  MARIA    MITCHELL 

students  endured  the  mathematical  work  of  junior 
Astronomy  in  order  to  be  within  range  of  her  magnetic 
personality."  (From  "Wide  Awake,"  September, 
1889.) 

A  graduate  writes :  "  Her  personality  was  so  strong 
that  it  was  felt  all  over  the  college,  even  by  those  who 
were  not  in  her  department,  and  who  only  admired  her 
from  a  distance." 

Extract  from  a  letter  written  after  her  death  by  a 
former  pupil:  "I  count  Maria  Mitchell's  services  to 
Vassar  and  her  pupils  infinitely  valuable,  and  her  charac- 
ter and  attainments  great  beyond  anything  that  has  yet 
been  told.  ...  I  was  one  of  the  pupils  upon  whom 
her  freedom  from  all  the  shams  and  self-deceptions  made 
an  impression  that  elevated  my  whole  standard,  mental 
and  moral.  .  .  .  The  influence  of  her  own  personal 
character  sustains  its  supreme  test  in  the  evidence  con- 
stantly accumulating,  that  it  strengthens  rather  than 
weakens  with  the  lapse  of  time.  Her  influence  upon 
her  pupils  who  were  her  daily  companions  has  been 
permanent,  character-moulding,  and  unceasingly  pro- 
gressive." 

President  Taylor,  in  his  address  at  her  funeral,  said : 
"  If  I  were  to  select  for  comment  the  one  most  striking 
trait  of  her  character,  I  should  name  her  genuineness. 
There  was  no  false  note  in  Maria  Mitchell's  thinking  or 
utterance.  .  .  . 

"One  who  has  known  her  kindness  to  little  children, 
who  has  watched  her  little  evidences  of  thoughtful  care 
for  her  associates  and  friends,  who  has  seen  her  put 
aside  her  own  long-cherished  rights  that  she  might 


DEATH  265 

make  the  way  of  a  new  and  untried  officer  easier,  can- 
not forget  the  tenderer  side  of  her  character.  .  .  . 
"  But  it  would  be  vain  for  me  to  try  to  tell  just  what 
it  was  in  Miss  Mitchell  that  attracted  us  who  loved  her. 
It  was  this  combination  of  great  strength  and  inde- 
pendence, of  deep  affection  and  tenderness,  breathed 
through  and  through  with  the  sentiment  of  a  perfectly 
genuine  life,  which  has  made  for  us  one  of  the  pil- 
grim-shrines of  life  the  study  in  the  observatory  of 
Vassar  College  where  we  have  known  her  at  home, 
surrounded  by  the  evidences  of  her  honorable  profes- 
sional career.  She  has  been  an  impressive  figure  in 
our  time,  and  one  whose  influence  lives." 


INTRODUCTORY    NOTE 


ON  the  1 7th  01  December,  1831,  a  gold  medal  of  the  value 
of  twenty  ducats  was  founded,  at  the  suggestion  of  Professor 
Schumacher,  of  Altona,  by  his  Majesty  Frederic  VI.,  at  that 
time  king  of  Denmark,  to  be  awarded  to  any  person  who 
should  first  discover  a  telescopic  comet.  This  foundation  and 
the  conditions  on  which  the  medal  would  be  awarded  were 
announced  to  the  public  in  the  "  Astronomische  Nachrichten" 
for  the  20th  of  March,  .1832.  The  regulations  underwent  a 
revision  after  a  few  years,  and  in  April,  1840  ("Astronomische 
Nachrichten,"  No.  400),  were  republished  as  follows  : 

"  i .  The  medal  will  be  given  to  the  first  discoverer  of  any 
comet,  which,  at  the  time  of  its  discovery,  is  invisible  to  the 
naked  eye,  and  whose  periodic  time  is  unknown. 

"  2.  The  discoverer,  if  a  resident  of  any  part  of  Europe 
except  Great  Britain,  is  to  make  known  his  discovery  to  Mr. 
Schumacher  at  Altona.  If  a  resident  in  Great  Britain,  or  any 
other  quarter  of  the  globe  except  the  continent  of  Europe, 
he  is  to  make  his  discovery  known  directly  to  Mr.  Francis 
Baily,  London.  [Since  Mr.  Baily's  decease,  G.  B.  Airy,  Esq., 
Astronomer  Royal,  has  been  substituted  in  this  and  in  the  7th 
and  8th  articles  of  the  regulations.] 

"  3.  This  communication  must  be  made  by  the  first  post  after 
the  discovery.  If  there  is  no  regular  mail  at  the  place  of  dis- 
covery, the  first  opportunity  of  any  other  -kind  must  be  made 
use  of,  without  waiting  for  other  observations.  '•  Exact  compli- 
ance with  this  condition  is  indispensable.  If  this  condition  is 

(267) 


268  MARIA    MITCHELL 

not  complied  with,  and  only  one  person  discovers  the  comet, 
no  medal  will  be  given  for  the  discovery.  Otherwise,  the 
medal  will  be  assigned  to  the  discoverer  who  earliest  complies 
with  the  condition. 

"  4.  The  communication  must  not  only  state  as  exactly  as 
possible  the  time  of  the  discovery,  in  order  to  settle  the  ques- 
tion between  rival  claims,  but  also  as  near  as  may  be  the  place 
of  the  comet,  and  the  direction  in  which  it  is  moving,  as  far 
as  these  points  can  be  determined  from  the  observations  of 
one  night. 

"5.  If  the  observations  of  one  night  are  not  sufficient  to 
settle  these  points,  the  enunciation  of  the  discovery  must  still 
be  made,  in  compliance  with  the  third  article.  As  soon  as 
a  second  observation  is  made,  it  must  be  communicated  in 
like  manner  with  the  first,  and  with  it  the  longitude  of  the 
place  where  the  discovery  is  made,  unless  it  take  place  at 
some  known  observatory.  The  expectation  of  obtaining  a 
second  observation  will  never  be  received  as  a  satisfactory 
reason  for  postponing  the  communication  of  the  first. 

"  6.  The  medal  will  be  assigned  twelve  months  after  the 
discovery  of  the  comet,  and  no  claim  will  be  admitted  after 
that  period. 

"  7.  Messrs.  Baily  and  Schumacher  are  to  decide  if  a  dis- 
covery has  been  made.  If  they  differ,  Mr.  Gauss,  of  Gottin- 
gen,  is  to  decide. 

"  8.  Messrs.  Baily  and  Schumacher  have  agreed  to  com- 
municate mutually  to  each  other  every  announcement  of  a 
discovery. 

"Altona,  April,  1840." 

On  the  ist  of  October,  1847,  at  half- past  ten  o'clock,  P.M., 
a  telescopic  comet  was  discovered  by  Miss  Maria  Mitchell, 
of  Nantucket,  nearly  vertical  above  Polaris  about  five  de- 
grees. The  further  progress  and  history  of  the  discovery  will 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  269 

sufficiently  appear  from  the  following  correspondence.  On 
the  3d  of  October  the  same  comet  was  seen  at  half-past  seven, 
P.M.,  at  Rome,  by  Father  de  Vico,  and  information  of  the 
fact  was  immediately  communicated  by  him  to  Professor 
Schumacher  at  Altona.  On  the  yth  of  October,  at  twenty 
minutes  past  nine,  P.M.,  it  was  observed  by  Mr.  W.  R.  Dawes, 
at  Camden  Lodge,  Cranbrook,  Kent,  in  England,  and  on  the 
nth  it  was  seen  by  Madame  Riimker,  the  wife  of  the  direc- 
tor of  the  observatory  at  Hamburg.  Mr.  Schumacher,  in 
announcing  this  last  discovery,  observes  :  l  "  Madame  Riim- 
ker has  for  several  years  been  on  the  lookout  for  comets,  and 
her  persevering  industry  seemed  at  last  about  to  be  rewarded, 
when  a  letter  was  received  from  Father  de  Vico,  ad- 
dressed to  the  editor  of  this  journal,  from  which  it  appeared 
that  the  same  comet  had  been  observed  by  him  on  the  $d 
instant  at  Rome." 

Not  deeming  it  probable  that  his  daughter  had  anticipated 
the  observers  of  this  country  and  Europe  in  the  discovery  of 
this  comet,  no  steps  were  taken  by  Mr.  Mitchell  with  a  view 
to  obtaining  the  king  of  Denmark's  medal.  Prompt  informa- 
tion, however,  of  the  discovery  was  transmitted  by  Mr.  Mitchell 
to  his  friend,  William  C.  Bond,  Esq.,  director  of  the  observa- 
tory at  Cambridge.  The  observations  of  the  Messrs.  Bond 
upon  the  comet  commenced  on  the  yth  of  October ;  and  on 
the  3oth  were  transmitted  by  me  to  Mr.  Schumacher,  for  pub- 
lication in  the  "  Astronomische  Nachrichten."  It  was  stated 
in  the  memorandum  of  the  Messrs.  Bond  that  the  comet  was 
seen  by  Miss  Mitchell  on  the  ist  instant.  This  notice 
appeared  in  the  "Nachrichten"  of  Dec.  9,  1847,  and  the 
priority  of  Miss  Mitchell's  discovery  was  immediately  ad- 
mitted throughout  Europe. 

My  attention  had  been  drawn  to  the  subject  of  the  king  of 

1  "  Astronomische  Nachrichten,"  No.  616. 


270  MARIA    MITCHELL 

Denmark's  comet  medal  by  some  allusion  to  it  in  my  corre- 
spondence with  Professor  Schumacher,  in  reference  to  the  dis- 
covery of  telescopic  comets  by  Mr.  George  P.  Bond,  of  the 
observatory  at  Cambridge.  Having  learned  some  weeks  after 
Miss  Mitchell's  discovery  that  no  communication  had  been 
made  on  her  behalf  to  the  trustees  of  the  medal,  and  aware 
that  the  regulations  in  this  respect  were  enforced  with  strict- 
ness, I  was  apprehensive  that  it  might  be  too  late  to  supply 
the  omission.  Still,  however,  as  the  spirit  of  the  regulations 
had  been  complied  with  by  Mr.  Mitchell's  letter  to  Mr.  Bond 
of  the  3d  of  October,  it  seemed  worth  while  at  least  to 
make  the  attempt  to  procure  the  medal  for  his  daughter.  Al- 
though the  attempt  might  be  unsuccessful,  it  would  at  any  rate 
cause  the  priority  of  her  discovery  to  be  more  authentically 
established  than  it  might  otherwise  have  been. 

I  accordingly  wrote  to  Mr.  Mitchell  for  information  on  the 
subject,  and  applied  for,  and  obtained  from  Mr.  Bond,  Mr. 
Mitchell's  original  letter  to  him  of  the  3d  of  October,  with  the 
Nantucket  postmark.  These  papers  were  transmitted  to  Pror 
fessor  Schumacher,  with  a  letter  dated  i5th  and  24th  January. 

On  the  8th  of  February  I  wrote  a  letter  to  my  much  es- 
teemed friend,  Captain  W.  H.  Smyth,  R.N.,  formerly  presi- 
dent of  the  Astronomical  Society  at  London,  requesting  him 
to  interest  himself  with  Professor  Schumacher  to  obtain  the 
medal  for  Miss  Mitchell.  Captain  Smyth  entered  with  great 
readiness  into  the  matter,  and  addressed  a  note  on  the  subject 
to  Mr.  Airy,  the  Astronomer  Royal,  at  Greenwich.  Mr.  Airy 
kindly  wrote  to  Professor  Schumacher  without  loss  of  time ; 
but  it  was  their  united  opinion  that  a  compliance  with  the 
condition  relative  to  immediate  notice  of  a  discovery  was  in- 
dispensable, and  that  it  was  consequently  out  of  their  power  to 
award  the  medal  to  Miss  Mitchell.  Mr.  Schumacher  suggested, 
as  the  only  means  by  which  this  difficulty  could  be  overcome, 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  2?  I 

an  application  to  the  Danish  government,  through  the  Ameri- 
can legation  at  Copenhagen. 

Conceiving  that  the  correspondence  could  be  carried  on 
more  promptly  through  the  Danish  legation  at  Washington,  I 
addressed  a  letter  on  the  20th  of  April  to  Mr.  Steene-Bille", 
Charge  d'Affaires  of  the  king  of  Denmark  in  this  country, 
and  sent  with  it  copies  of  the  documents  which  had  been 
forwarded  to  Professor  Schumacher.  Mr.  Steene-Bille",  how- 
ever, was  of  opinion  that  the  application,  if  made  at  all, 
should  be  made  through  the  American  legation  at  Copenhagen ; 
but  he  expressed  at  the  same  time  a  confident  opinion  that, 
owing  to  the  condition  and  political  relations  of  Denmark, 
the  application  would  necessarily  prove  unavailing. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  difficulties  in  Schleswig-Holstein 
were  at  their  height,  and  it  seemed  hopeless  at  such  a  mo- 
ment, and  in  face  of  the  opinion  of  the  official  representative 
of  the  Danish  government  in  this  country,  to  engage  its 
attention  to  an  affair  of  this  kind.  No  further  attempt  was 
accordingly  made  by  me,  for  some  weeks,  to  pursue  the 
matter.  In  fact,  a  report  reached  the  United  States  that  the 
medal  had  actually  been  awarded  to  Father  de  Vico.  Al- 
though this  was  believed  by  me  to  be  an  unfounded  rumor, 
the  regulations  allowing  one  year  for  the  presentation  of 
claims,  there  was  reason  to  apprehend  that  it  proceeded  from 
some  quarter  well  informed  as  to  what  would  probably  take 
place  at  the  expiration  of  the  twelvemonth. 

On  the  5th  of  August,  Father  de  Vico,  who  had  left 
Rome  in  the  spring  in  consequence  of  the  troubles  there, 
made  a  visit  to  Cambridge,  in  company  with  the  Right 
Rev.  Bishop  Fitzpatrick,  of  Boston,  and  on  this  occasion 
informed  me  that  he  had  received  an  intimation  from  Pro- 
fessor Schumacher  that  the  comet-medal  would  be  awarded 
to  Miss  Mitchell.  I  was  disposed  to  think  that  Father 


272  MARIA    MITCHELL 

de  Vico  labored  under  some  misapprehension  as  to  the  pur- 
port of  Professor  Schumacher's  communications,  as  afterwards 
appeared  to  be  the  case.  I  felt  encouraged,  however,  by  his 
statement  not  only  to  renew  my  correspondence  on  the  sub- 
ject with  Professor  Schumacher,  but  I  determined,  on  the  8th 
of  August,  to  address  a  letter  to  R.  P.  Fleniken,  Esq.,  Charg£ 
d' Affaires  of  the  United  States  at  Copenhagen.  This  letter 
was  accompanied  with  copies  of  the  original  papers. 

Mr.  Fleniken  entered  with  great  zeal  and  interest  into  the 
subject.  He  lost  no  time  in  bringing  it  before  the  Danish 
government  by  means  of  a  letter  to  the  Count  de  Knuth,  the 
Minister  at  that  time  for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  of  another  to  the 
king  of  Denmark  himself.  His  Majesty,  with  the  most  oblig- 
ing promptness,  ordered  a  reference  of  the  case  to  Professor 
Schumacher,  with  directions  to  report  thereon  without  delay. 
Mr.  Schumacher  had  been  for  a  long  time  in  possession  of  the 
documents  establishing  Miss  Mitchell's  priority,  which  was, 
indeed,  admitted  throughout  scientific  Europe.  Professor 
Schumacher  immediately  made  his  report  in  favor  of  granting 
the  medal  to  Miss  Mitchell,  and  this  report  was  accepted  by 
the  king.  The  result  was  forthwith  communicated  by  the 
Count  de  Knuth  to  Mr.  Fleniken,  with  the  gratifying  intelli- 
gence that  the  king  had  ordered  the  medal  to  be  awarded  to 
Miss  Mitchell,  and  that  it  would  be  delivered  to  him  for 
transmission  as  soon  as  it  could  be  struck  off.  This  has  since 
been  done. 

It  must  be  regarded  as  a  striking  proof  of  an  enlightened 
interest  for  the  promotion  of  science,  not  less  than  of  a  kind 
regard  for  the  rights  and  feelings  of  the  individual  most  con- 
cerned in  this  decision,  that  the  king  of  Denmark  should  have 
bestowed  his  attention  upon  this  subject,  at  a  period  of  so 
much  difficulty  and  alarm  for  Europe  in  general  and  his  own 
kingdom  in  particular.  It  would  not  have  been  possible  to 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  273 

act  more  promptly  in  a  season  of  the  profoundest  tranquillity. 
His  Majesty  has  on  this  occasion  shown  that  he  is  animated 
by  the  same  generous  zeal  for  the  encouragement  of  astro- 
nomical research  which  led  his  predecessor  to  found  the 
medal ;  while  he  has  performed  an  act  of  gracious  courtesy 
toward  a  stranger  in  a  distant  land  which  must  ever  be  warmly 
appreciated  by  her  friends  and  countrymen. 

Nor  ought  the  obliging  agency  of  the  Count  de  Knuth,  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  to  be  passed  without  notice. 
The  slightest  indifference  on  his  part,  even  the  usual  delays  of 
office,  would  have  prevented  the  application  from  reaching 
the  king  before  the  expiration  of  the  twelvemonth  within 
which  all  claims  must,  by  the  regulations,  be  presented.  No 
one  can  reflect  upon  the  pressure  of  business  which  must 
have  existed  in  the  foreign  office  at  Copenhagen  during  the 
past  year,  without  feeling  that  the  Count  de  Knuth  must 
largely  share  his  sovereign's  zeal  for  science,  as  well  as  his  love 
of  justice.  Nothing  else  will  account  for  the  attention  be- 
stowed at  such  a  political  crisis  on  an  affair  of  this  kind. 
The  same  attention  appears  to  have  been  given  to  the  subject 
by  his  successor,  Count  Moltka. 

It  was  quite  fortunate  for  the  success  of  the  application 
that  the  office  of  charge"  d'affaires  of  the  United  States  at 
Copenhagen  happened  to  be  filled  by  a  gentleman  disposed  to 
give  it  his  prompt  and  persevering  support.  A  matter  of  this 
kind,  of  course,  lay  without  the  province  of  his  official  duties. 
But  no  subject  officially  committed  to  him  by  the  instructions 
of  his  government  could  have  been  more  zealously  pursued. 
On  the  very  day  on  which  my  communication  of  the  8th  of 
August  reached  him,  Mr.  Fleniken  addressed  his  letters  to  the 
minister  of  foreign  affairs  and  to  the  king,  and  he  continued 
to  give  his  attention  to  the  subject  till  the  object  was  happily 
effected,  and  the  medal  placed  in  his  hands. 


274  MARIA    MITCHELL 

The  event  itself,  however  insignificant  in  the  great  world  of 
politics  and  business,  is  one  of  pleasing  interest  to  the  friends 
of  American  science,  and  it  has  been  thought  proper  that  the 
following  record  of  it  should  be  preserved  in  a  permanent 
form.  I  have  regretted  the  frequent  recurrence  of  my  own 
name  in  the  correspondence,  and  have  suppressed  several  let- 
ters of  my  own  which  could  be  spared,  without  rendering  less 
intelligible  the  communications  of  the  other  parties,  to  whom 
the  interest  and  merit  of  the  transaction  belong. 

EDWARD   EVERETT. 

CAMBRIDGE,  ist  February,  1849. 


CORRESPONDENCE 


HON.   WILLIAM   MITCHELL  TO   WILLIAM    C.   BOND,  ESQ.,    CAMBRIDGE. 

"  Nantucket,  10  mo.  36,  1847. 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  :  I  write  now  merely  to  say  that  Maria 
discovered  a  telescopic  comet  at  half-past  ten  on  the  evening 
of  the  first  instant,  at  that  hour  nearly  vertical  above  Polaris 
five  degrees.  Last  evening  it  had  advanced  westwardly  ;  this 
evening  still  further,  and  nearing  the  pole.  It  does  not  bear 
illumination,  but  Maria  has  obtained  its  right  ascension  and 
declination,  and  will  not  suffer  me  to  announce  it.  Pray  tell 
me  whether  it  is  one  of  George's ;  if  not,  whether  it  has  been 
seen  by  anybody.  Maria  supposes  it  may  be  an  old  story.  If 
quite  convenient,  just  drop  a  line  to  her;  it  will  oblige  me 
much.  I  expect  to  leave  home  in  a  day  or  two,  and  shall  be 
in  Boston  next  week,  and  I  would  like  to  have  her  hear  from 
you  before  I  can  meet  you.  I  hope  it  will  not  give  thee  much 
trouble  amidst  thy  close  engagements. 

"  Our  regards  are  to  all  of  you,  most  truly, 

"  WILLIAM  MITCHELL." 


HON.    EDWARD    EVERETT   TO    HON.    WILLIAM    MITCHELL. 

"Cambridge,  loth  January,  1848. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  take  the  liberty  to  inquire  of  you  whether 
any  steps  have  been  taken  by  you,  on  behalf  of  your  danghter, 
by  way  of  claiming  the  medal  of  the  king  of  Denmark  for  the 

(275) 


276  MARIA    MITCHELL 

first  discovery  of  a  telescopic  comet.  The  regulations  require 
that  information  of  the  discovery  should  be  transmitted  by  the 
next  mail  to  Mr.  Airy,  the  Astronomer  Royal,  if  the  discovery 
is  made  elsewhere  than  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  If  made 
in  the  United  States,  I  understand  from  Mr.  Schumacher  that 
information  may  be  sent  to  the  Danish  minister  at  Washing- 
ton, who  will  forward  it  to  Mr.  Airy,  —  but  it  must  be  sent  by 
next  mail. 

"  In  consequence  of  non-compliance  with  these  regulations, 
Mr.  George  Bond  has  on  one  occasion  lost  the  medal.  I 
trust  this  may  not  be  the  case  with  Miss  Mitchell. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  with  much  respect,  faithfully  yours, 

"EDWARD  EVERETT." 


EXTRACT   FROM    A   LETTER   OF   THE    HON.   WILLIAM   MITCHELL    TO 
HON.     EDWARD     EVERETT. 

"Nantucket,  ist  mo.  I5th,  1848. 

"ESTEEMED  FRIEND:  Thy  kind  letter  of  the  loth  instant 
reached  me  duly.  No  steps  were  taken  by  my  daughter  in 
claim  of  the  medal  of  the  Danish  king.  On  the  night  of  the 
discovery,  I  was  fully  satisfied  that  it  was  a  comet  from  its 
location,  though  its  real  motion  at  this  time  was  so  nearly 
opposite  to  that  of  the  earth  (the  two  bodies  approaching 
each  other)  that  its  apparent  motion  was  scarcely  appre- 
ciable. I  urged  very  strongly  that  it  should  be  published 
immediately,  but  she  resisted  it  as  strongly,  though  she  could 
but  acknowledge  her  conviction  that  it  was  a  comet.  She 
remarked  to  me,  '  If  it  is  a  new  comet,  our  friends,  the  Bonds, 
have  seen  it.  It  may  be  an  old  one,  so  far  as  relates  to  the 
discovery,  and  one  which  we  have  not  followed.'  She  con- 
sented, however,  that  I  should  write  to  William  C.  Bond, 
which  I  did  by  the  first  mail  that  left  the  island  after  the 


CORRESPONDENCE  277 

discovery.  This  letter  did  not  reach  my  friend  till  the  6th  or 
7th,  having  been  somewhat  delayed  here  and  also  in  the  post- 
office  at  Cambridge. 

"  Referring  to  my  journal  I  find  these  words  :   <  Maria  will 
not  consent  to  have  me  announce  it  as  an  original  discovery.' 

"  The  stipulations  of  His  Majesty  have,  therefore,  not  been 
complied  with,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case, 
her  sex,  and  isolated  position,  may  not  be  sufficient  to  justify  a 
suspension  of  the  rules.  Nevertheless,  it  would  gratify  me 
that  the  generous  monarch  should  know  that  there  is  a  love 
of  science  even  in  this  to  him  remote  corner  of  the  earth. 
"  I  am  thine,  my  dear  friend,  most  truly, 

"  WILLIAM  MITCHELL." 


HON.  EDWARD   EVERETT   TO    PROFESSOR   SCHUMACHER,  AT   ALTONA. 

"Cambridge,  I5th  January,  1848. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  letter  of  the  2  ;th  October,  accompanying 
the  '  Planeten-Circular,'  reached  me  but  a  few  days  since.  If 
you  would  be  so  good  as  to  forward  to  the  care  of  John  Miller, 
Esq.,  26  Henrietta  street,  Covent  Garden,  London,  any  letter 
you  may  do  me  the  favor  to  write  to  me,  it  would  reach  me 
promptly. 

"  The  regulations  relative  to  the  king  of  Denmark's  medal 
have  not  hitherto  been  understood  in  this  country.  I  shall 
take  care  to  give  publicity  to  them.  Not  only  has  Mr.  Bond 
lost  the  medal  to  which  you  think  he  would  have  been  en- 
titled,1 but  I  fear  the  same  has  happened  to  Miss  Mitchell, 
of  Nantucket,  who  discovered  the  comet  of  last  October  on 

1  Mr.  Schumacher  had  remarked  to  me,  in  his  letter  of  the  27th  of  October,  that 
Mr.  George  P.  Bond  would  have  received  the  medal  for  the  comet  first  seen  by  him 
as  a  nebulous  object  on  the  i8th  of  February,  1846,  if  his  observation  made  at  that 
time  had  been  communicated,  according  to  the  regulations,  to  the  trustees  of  the 
medal. 


278  MARIA    MITCHELL 

the  first  day  of  that  month.     I  think  it  was  not  seen  in  Europe 
till  the  third. 

"  I  remain,  dear  sir,  with  great  respect,  faithfully  yours, 

"EDWARD  EVERETT." 


HON.    EDWARD    EVERETT   TO    HON.    WILLIAM    MITCHELL. 

"  Cambridge,  i8th  January,  1848. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  your  esteemed  favor  of  the  i5th,  which 
reached  me  this  day.  I  am  fearful  that  the  rigor  deemed 
necessary  in  enforcing  the  regulations  relative  to  the  king  of 
Denmark's  prize  may  prevent  your  daughter  from  receiving  it. 
I  learn  from  Mr.  Schumacher's  letter,  that,  besides  Mr.  George 
Bond,  Dr.  Bremeker  lost  the  medal  because  he  allowed  a 
single  post-day  to  pass  before  he  announced  his  discovery. 
There  could,  in  his  case,  be  no  difficulty  in  establishing  the 
fact  of  his  priority,  nor  any  doubt  of  the  good  faith  with 
which  it  was  asserted.  But  inasmuch  as  Miss  Mitchell's  dis- 
covery was  actually  made  known  to  Mr.  Bond  by  the  next  mail 
which  left  your  island,  it  is  possible  —  barely  possible  —  that  this 
may  be  considered  as  a  substantial  compliance  with  the  regu- 
lation. At  any  rate,  it  is  worth  trying ;  and  if  we  can  do  no 
more  we  can  establish  the  lady's  claim  to  all  the  credit  of  the 
prior  discovery.  I  shall  therefore  apply  to  Mr.  Bond  for  the 
letter  which  you  wrote,  and  if  it  contains  nothing  improper 
to  be  seen  by  others  we  will  forward  it  to  the  Danish  min- 
ister at  Washington  with  a  certified  extract  from  your  journal. 
I  will  have  a  certified  copy  of  all  these  papers  prepared  and 
sent  to  Mr.  Schumacher ;  and  if  any  departure  from  the  letter 
of  the  regulations  is  admissible,  this  would  seem  to  be  a  case 
for  it.  I  trust  Miss  Mitchell's  retiring  disposition  will  not 
lead  her  to  oppose  the  taking  of  these  steps. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  with  great  respect,  faithfully  yours, 

[Signed]  "EDWARD  EVERETT." 


CORRESPONDENCE  279 

POSTSCRIPT   TO   MR.    EVERETT'S   LETTER  TO   PROFESSOR 
SCHUMACHER    OF   THE    I5TH    JANUARY,   1848. 

"  P.S.  —  The  foregoing  was  written  to  go  by  the  steamer  of 
the  1 5th,  but  was  a  few  hours  too  late.  I  have  since  received 
some  information  in  reference  to  the  comet  of  October  which 
leads  me  to  hope  that  you  may  feel  it  in  your  power  to  award 
the  medal  to  Miss  Maria  Mitchell.  Miss  Mitchell  saw  the 
comet  at  half- past  ten  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  October  ist. 
Her  father,  a  skilful  astronomer,  made  an  entry  in  his  journal 
to  that  effect.  On  the  third  day  of  October  he  wrote  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Bond,  the  director  of  our  observatory,  announcing 
the  discovery.  This  letter  was  despatched  the  following  day, 
being  the  first  post-day  after  the  discovery  of  the  comet. 
This  letter  I  transmit  to  you,  together  with  letters  from  Mr. 
Mitchell  and  Mr.  Bond  to  myself.  Nantucket,  as  you  are 
probably  aware,  is  a  small,  secluded  island,  lying  off  the 
extreme  point  of  the  coast  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Mitchell  is 
a  member  of  the  executive  council  of  Massachusetts  and  a 
most  respectable  person. 

"  As  the  claimant  is  a  young  lady  of  great  diffidence,  the 
place  a  retired  island,  remote  from  all  the  high-roads  of  com- 
munication ;  as  the  conditions  have  not  been  well  understood 
in  this  country ;  and  especially  as  there  was  a  substantial  com- 
pliance with  them  —  I  hope  His  Majesty  may  think  Miss  Maria 
Mitchell  entitled  to  the  medal. 

"  Cambridge,  24th  January,  1848. 


280  MARIA    MITCHELL 

EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  FROM  MR.  EVERETT  TO  CAPTAIN  W.  H. 
SMYTH,  R.N.,  LATE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  ROYAL  ASTRONOMICAL 
SOCIETY,  LONDON,  DATED  CAMBRIDGE,  8TH  FEBRUARY,  1848. 

"  I  have  lately  been  making  interest  with  Mr.  Schumacher 
to  cause  the  king  of  Denmark's  medal  to  be  given  to  Miss 
Mitchell  for  the  discovery  of  the  comet  to  which  her  name 
has  been  given,  if  I  mistake  not,  in  the  journal  of  your  society 
as  well  as  in  the  '  Nachrichten.'  She  unquestionably  dis- 
covered it  at  half- past  ten  on  the  evening  of  the  ist  of  Octo- 
ber;  it  was  not,  I  think,  seen  in  Europe  till  the  3d.  Her 
father,  on  the  3d,  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Bond,  the  director  of 
our  observatory,  informing  him  of  this  discovery;  and  this 
letter  was  sent  by  the  first  mail  that  left  the  little  out-of-the- 
way  island  (Nantucket)  after  the  discovery.  The  spirit  of 
the  regulations  was  therefore  complied  with.  But  as  the  letter 
requires  that  the  notice  should  be  given  either  to  the  Danish 
minister  resident  in  the  country  or  to  Mr.  Airy,  if  the  dis- 
covery is  made  elsewhere  than  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  it 
is  possible  that  some  demur  may  be  made.  The  precise  terms 
of  the  regulations  have  not  been  sufficiently  made  known  in 
this  country.  As  the  claim  in  this  case  is  really  a  just  one, 
the  claimant  a  lady,  industrious,  vigilant,  a  good  astronomer 
and  mathematician,  I  cannot  but  hope  she  will  succeed ;  and 
if  you  have  the  influence  with  Schumacher  which  you  ought 
to  have,  I  would  take  it  kindly  if  you  would  use  it  in  her  favor." 


CAPTAIN   SMYTH   TO   MR.    EVERETT. 

"  3  Cheyne  Walk,  Chelsea,  loth  March,  1848, 
"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  On  the  receipt  of  your  last  letter,  I  forthwith 
wrote   to  the    astronomer   royal,  urging   the  claims   of  Miss 
Mitchell,  of  Nantucket,  and  he  immediately  replied,  saying 


CORRESPONDENCE  2  8 1 

that  he  would  lose  no  time  in  consulting  his  official  colleague, 
Mr.  Schumacher,  on  the  subject.  I  have  just  received  the 
accompanying  letter  from  Greenwich,  by  which  you  will  per- 
ceive how  the  matter  stands  at  present;  I  say  at  present, 
because,  however  the  claim  may  be  considered  as  to  the  tech- 
nical form  of  application,  there  is  no  doubt  whatever  of  her 
fully  meriting  the  award. 

"  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  very  faithfully  yours, 
[Signed]  "  W.  H.  SMYTH." 

G.  B.   AIRY,  ESQ.,  TO    CAPTAIN  SMYTH. 

"  Royal  Observatory,  Greenwich,  loth  March,  1848. 
"MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  have  received  Mr.  Schumacher's  answer 
in  regard  to  Miss  Mitchell's  supposed  claims  for  the  king  of 
Denmark's  medal.  We  agree,  without  the  smallest  hesitation, 
that  we  cannot  award  the  medal.  We  have  in  all  cases  acted 
strictly  in  conformity  with  the  published  rules ;  and  I  am  con- 
vinced, and  I  believe  that  Mr.  Schumacher  is  convinced,  that 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  we  do  not  depart  from  them. 

"  Mr.  Schumacher  suggests,  as  the  only  way  in  which  Miss 
Mitchell's  claim  in  equity  could  be  urged,  that  application 
might  be  made  on  her  part,  through  the  American  legation, 
to  the  king  of  Denmark;  and  the  king  can,  if  he  pleases, 
make  exception  to  the  usual  rules. 

"  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 
[Signed]  "  G.  B.  AIRY." 

HON.    EDWARD    EVERETT   TO   R.    P.    FLENIKEN. 

"  Cambridge,  Mass.,  8th  August,  1848. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  Without  the  honor  of  your  personal  acquaint- 
ance, I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  on  a  subject  which  I 
am  confident  will  interest  you  as  a  friend  of  American  science. 


282  MARIA    MITCHELL 

"  You  are  doubtless  aware  that  by  the  liberality  of  one  of 
the  kings  of  Denmark,  the  father,  I  believe,  of  his  late 
Majesty,  a  foundation  was  made  for  a  gold  medal  to  be  given 
to  the  first  discoverer  of  a  telescopic  comet.  Mr.  Schumacher, 
of  Altona,  and  Mr.  Baily,  of  London  (and  since  his  decease 
Mr.  Airy,  Astronomer  Royal  at  Greenwich),  were  made  the 
trustees  of  this  foundation.  Among  the  regulations  estab- 
lished for  awarding  the  medal  was  this :  that  the  discoverer 
should,  by  the  first  mail  which  leaves  the  place  of  his  residence 
after  the  discovery,  give  notice  thereof  to  Mr.  Schumacher  if 
•the  discovery  is  made  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  to  Mr. 
Airy  if  made  in  any  other  part  of  the  world ;  provided  that, 
if  the  discovery  be  made  in  America,  the  notice  may  be  given 
to  the  Danish  minister  at  Washington.  It  has  been  deemed 
necessary  to  adhere  with  great  strictness  to  this  regulation,  in 
order  to  prevent  fraudulent  claims. 

"  On  the  first  day  of  October  last,  at  about  half- past  ten 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  a  telescopic  comet  was  discovered,  in 
the  island  of  Nantucket,  by  Miss  Maria  Mitchell,  daughter  of 
Hon.  W.  Mitchell,  one  of  the  executive  council  of  this  State. 
Mr.  Mitchell  made  an  entry  of  the  discovery  at  the  time  in 
his  journal.  In  consequence  of  Miss  Mitchell's  diffidence, 
she  would  not  allow  any  publicity  to  be  given  to  her  discovery 
till  its  reality  was  ascertained.  Her  father,  however,  by  the 
first  mail  that  left  Nantucket  for  the  mainland,  addressed  a 
letter-  to  Mr.  W.  C.  Bond,  director  of  the  observatory  in  this 
place,  acquainting  him  with  his  daughter's  discovery.  A  copy 
of  this  letter  I  herewith  transmit  to  you.  The  comet  was 
not  discovered  in  Europe  till  the  3d  of  October,  when  it  was 
seen  by  Father  de  Vico,  the  celebrated  astronomer  at  Rome. 

"  You  perceive  from  this  statement  that,  if  Mr.  Mitchell 
had  addressed  his  letter  to  the  Danish  minister  at  Washington 
instead  of  Mr.  Bond,  his  daughter  would  have  been  entitled  to 


CORRESPONDENCE  283 

the  medal,  under  the  strict  terms  of  the  regulations.  But 
these  regulations  have  not  been  generally  understood  in  this 
country ;  and  as  the  fact  of  Miss  Mitchell's  prior  discovery  is 
undoubted,  and  recognized  throughout  Europe,  it  would  be  a 
pity  that  she  should  lose  the  medal  on  a  mere  technical  punc- 
tilio. The  comet  is  constantly  called  '  Miss  Mitchell's 
comet'  in  the  monthly  journal  of  the  Royal  Astronomical 
Society  at  London,  and  in  the  (  Astronomische  Nachrichten,' 
the  well-known  astronomical  journal,  edited  by  Mr.  Schu- 
macher himself,  at  Altona.  Father  de  Vico  (who,  with  his 
brothers  of  the  Society  of  Jesuits,  has  left  Rome  since  the 
revolution  there)  was  at  this  place  (Cambridge)  three  days 
ago,  and  spoke  of  Miss  Mitchell's  priority  as  an  undoubted 
fact. 

"  Last  winter  I  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Schumacher,  ac- 
quainting him  with  the  foregoing  facts  relative  to  the  discov- 
ery, and  transmitting  to  him  the  original  letter  of  Mr.  Mitchell 
to  Mr.  Bond,  dated  3d  October,  bearing  the  original  Nan- 
tucket  postmark  of  the  4th.  I  also  wrote  to  Capt.  W.  H. 
Smyth,  late  president  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society  of 
England,  desiring  him  to  speak  to  Mr.  Airy  on  the  subject. 
He  did  so,  and  Mr.  Airy  wrote  immediately  to  Mr.  Schu- 
macher. Mr.  Schumacher  in  his  reply  expressed  the  opinion, 
in  which  Mr.  Airy  concurs,  that  under  the  regulations  it  is  not 
in  their  power  to  award  the  medal  to  Miss  Mitchell.  They 
suggest,  however,  that  an  application  should  be  made,  through 
the  American  legation  at  the  Danish  court,  to  His  Majesty  the 
King  of  Denmark,  for  authority,  under  the  present  circum- 
stances, to  dispense  with  the  literal  fulfilment  of  the  conditions. 

"It  is  on  this  subject  that  I  take  the  liberty  to  ask  your 
good  offices.  I  accompany  my  letter  with  copies  of  a  portion 
of  the  correspondence  which  has  been  had  on  the  subject, 
and  I  venture  to  request  you  to  address  a  note  to  the  proper 


284  MARIA    MITCHELL 

department  of  the  Danish  government,  to  the  end  that 
authority  should  be  given  to  Messrs.  Schumacher  and  Airy  to 
award  the  medal  to  Miss  Mitchell,  provided  they  are  satisfied 
that  she  first  discovered  the  comet. 

"  I  will  only  add  that,  should  you  succeed  in  effecting  this 
object,  you  will  render  a  very  acceptable  service  to  all  the 
friends  of  science  in  America. 

"  I  remain,  dear  sir,  with  high  consideration,  your  obedient, 
faithful  servant, 

[Signed]  "  EDWARD  EVERETT. 

"  To  R.  P.  FLENIKEN,  ESQ.,  Charge  d'Affaires  of  the  United 
States  of  America  at  Copenhagen." 


R.  P.  FLENIKEN,  ESQ.,  TO   THE    COUNT   DE    KNUTH. 

"  Legation  des  Etats  Unis  d'Amerique,  \ 
a  Copenhague,  le  6  Septembre,  1848.  J 

"  MONSIEUR  LE  MINISTRE  :  J'ai  1'honneur  de  remettre  sous 
ce  pli  a  votre  Excellence  une  lettre  que  j'ai  re£ue  d'un  de  mes 
concitoyens  les  plus  distingue"s,  avec  une  correspondance 
touchaixt  >une  matiere  a  laquelle  il  me  semble  que  le  Dane- 
mark  ne  soit  guere  moins  interess^  que  ne  le  sont  les  Etats 
Unis ;  le  premier  y  ayant  contribue"  le  digne  motif,  1'autre  en 
ayant  heureusement  accompli  1'objet. 

"Je  recommande  ces  documents  a  1'examination  attentive 
de  votre  .Excellence,  sachant  bien  1'inte'ret  pro  fond  qu'elle  ne 
manque  jamais  de  prendre  a  de  tels  sujets,  et  la  reputation 
e"minente  de  cultivateur  des  sciences  et  de  la  litt£rature,  dont 
elle  jouit  avec  tant  de  justice.  J'y  ai  joint  une  lettre  de 
moi-meme,  addressee  a  sa  Majeste"  le  Roi  de  Danemark. 

"  La  matiere  dont  il  est  question,  Monsieur,  sera  d'autant 
plus  inte"ressante  a  votre  Excellence,  qu'on  peut  la  regarder 
comme  une  voix  de  r^ponse  addressee  a  Tancienne  Scandi- 


CORRESPONDENCE  285 

navie,  proclaimant  les  prodiges  merveilleux  de  la  science 
moderne,  des  bqrds  memes  du  Vinland  des  Vikinger  hardis 
et  entreprenants  du  dixieme  et  de  Ponzieme  siecles. 

"Je  prie  votre  Excellence  de  vouloir  bien  soumettre  tous 
les  documents  ci-joints  a  1'oeil  de  sa  Majeste",  et  dans  le  cas 
heureux  ou  vous  seriez  d'avis  que  ma  compatriote,  Mile. 
Mitchell,  puisse  avec  justice  revendiquer  la  recompense 
ge"nereuse  institute  par  le  Roi  Frederic  VI.,  alors,  Monsieur, 
je  prie  votre  Excellence  de  vouloir  bien  appuyer  de  ses  pro- 
pres  estimables  et  puissantes  recommandations  Implication 
des  amis  de  la  jeune  demoiselle. 

"  Je  m'empresse  a  cette  occasion,  Monsieur,  de  renouveler 
a  votre  Excellence  1'assurance  de  ma  consideration  tres 

distingue"e. 

"  R.  P.  FLENIKEN. 

"A    Son    Excellence   M.   LE   COMTE    DE    KNUTH,   Ministre 
d'Etat,  et  Chef  du  De"partement  des  Affaires  Etrangeres. 


TRANSLATION.1 

"  Legation  of  the  United  States  of  America,') 
City  of  Copenhagen,  September  6th,  1848.  / 

"  SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  to  you  a  letter  from 
a  distinguished  citizen  of  my  own  country,  together  with  a 
correspondence  relating  to  a  subject  in  which  Denmark  and 
the  United  States  appear  somewhat  equally  interested,  the 
former  in  furnishing  a  laudable  motive,  and  the  latter  as  hap- 
pily achieving  the  object. 

"I  commend  these  papers  to  your  careful  examination, 
being  well  aware  of  the  deep  interest  you  take  in  all  such 
subjects,  and  of  the  eminent  reputation  you  so  justly  enjoy 

1  This  and  the  other  translations  of  the  French  letters  are  printed  as 
received  in  this  country. 


286  MARIA    MITCHELL 

as  a  gentleman  of  science  and  of  literature.  They  are  accom- 
panied by  a  letter  from  myself  addressed  to  His  Majesty  the 
King  of  Denmark. 

"  This  subject  will  not  be  the  less  interesting  to  you,  sir, 
as  it  would  appear  to  be  a  returning  voice  addressed  to  ancient 
Scandinavia,  speaking  of  the  wonderful  achievements  of  mod- 
ern science,  from  the  '  Vinland '  of  the  hardy  and  enterprising 
'  Northmen '  of  the  tenth  and  the  eleventh  centuries. 

"  I  beg,  therefore,  that  you  will  obligingly  lay  them  all 
before  His  Majesty,  and  should  they  happily  impress  you  that 
my  countrywoman,  Miss  Mitchell,  is  fairly  entitled  to  the 
generous  offering  of  King  Frederic  VI.,  be  pleased,  sir,  to 
accompany  the  application  of  her  friends  in  her  behalf  by 
your  own  very  valuable  and  potent  recommendation. 

"  I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  your  Excellency 
the  assurance  of  my  most  distinguished  consideration. 

[Signed]  "  R.  P.  FLENIKEN. 

"To   His  Excellency   THE   COUNT   DE    KNUTH,    Minister   of 
State  and  Chief  of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs. 


R.  P.  FLENIKEN,  ESQ.,  TO   THE    KING   OF   DENMARK. 

"  Legation  des  Etats  Unis  d'Amerique,  1 
a  Copenhague,  le  6  Septembre,  1848.  / 

"  SIRE  :  Le  soussigne"  a  1'honneur,  par  1'interm^diaire  de 
M.  votre  ministre  d'etat  et  chef  du  departement  des  affaires 
e"trangeres,  de  soumettre  a  votre  Majeste"  une  lettre  d'un 
citoyen  tres  distingue  des  Etats  Unis,  accompagne"e  de  la 
copie  d'une  correspondance  concernant  une  matiere  a  laquelle 
votre  Majeste",  soverain  e"galement  distingue"  par  la  lib^ralite" 
g£ne"reuse  qu'elle  fait  voir  dans  ses  rapports  sociaux  et 
politiques,  et  par  1'admiration  ardente  qu'elle  manifeste  envers 


CORRESPONDENCE  287 

la  science  et  la  litte'rature,  ne  peut  manquer  de  prendre  un  vif 
inte"ret. 

"Le  soussigne"  se  fdicite  beaucoup  d'etre  1'interme'diaire 
par  les  mains  duquel  ces  documents  arrivent  sous  1'ceil  de 
votre  Majest^,  £tant  persuade"  que  la  lecture  en  fournira  a 
votre  Majest^  1'occasion  de  recourir  avec  une  grande  satis- 
faction patriotique,  comme  protecteur  Eminent  des  sciences, 
a  I'institution  d'un  de  ses  illustres  pre"de"cesseurs }  et  ce  sou- 
venir de  la  haute  position  a  laquelle  le  Danemark  s'est  e"ieve" 
dans  les  arts  et  les  sciences,  ne  lui  sera  peut-etre  pas  moins 
doux  quand  elle  songe  que  c'est  justement  sur  cette  meme 
cote,  oil  de"ja  au  dixieme  siecle  rintre"pidite"  et  1'esprit  hardi 
de  ses  ancetres  Scandinaves  les  avaient  amends  a  la  d£cou- 
verte  du  grand  continent  occidental  et  a  la  fondation  d'une 
colonie,  que  vient  de  s'accomplir  cette  conquete  de  la  sci- 
ence, dont  parlent  les  dits  papiers. 

"  Le  soussigne"  ose  done  espe"rer,  qu'a  la  suite  d'une  exam- 
ination attentive  des  lettres  ci-jointes,  et  desquelles  il  parai- 
trait  etre  ge"ne"ralement  reconnu  qu'a  Mile.  Mitchell  des 
Etats  Unis  est  du  1'honneur  d'avoir  la  premiere  de"couvert 
la  comete  te"lescopique  qui  aujourd'hui  porte  son  nom,  que 
votre  Majeste"  ne  trouvera  point  dans  la  reserve  louable  qui 
empecha  cette  jeune  demoiselle  de  se  pre"cipiter  a  la  pour- 
suite  d'une  renommee  publique,  une  cause  suffisante  de  lui 
refuser  le  prix  de  sa  brilliante  d^couverte ;  mais  qu'au  con- 
traire  elle  donnera  1'ordre  de  lui  expe"dier  la  me"daille,  autant 
comme  une  recompense  due  a  ses  e"minents  talents  scien- 
tifiques,  que  pour  te"moigner  combien  votre  Majest^  sait 
appr£cier  cette  modestie  charmante  qui  s'opposa  a  ce  que 
Mile.  Mitchell  recherchat  une  c^l^brit^  publique  et  scien- 
tifique,  avec  le  seul  but  de  remplir  une  forme  tout-a-fait 
technique. 

"  Le  soussigne",  charg^  d'affaires  des  Etats  Unis  de  1'Ame"- 


288  MARIA    MITCHELL 

rique,  saisit  avec  empressement  cette  occasion  d'offrir  a  votre 
Majest^  1'expression  de  sa  consideration  la  plus  haute  et  la 
plus  distingue"e. 

"  R.  P.  FLENIKEN. 

"X  Sa  Majeste"  FREDERIC  VII.,  Roi  de  Danemark,  Due  de 
Slesvig  et  de  Holstein." 


TRANSLATION. 

"  Legation  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
City  of  Copenhagen,  September  4th,  1848. 

"SiRE:  The  undersigned  has  the  honor,  through  your 
Majesty's  minister  of  state  and  chief  of  the  department  of 
foreign  affairs,  to  communicate  to  you  a  letter  from  a  very 
distinguished  citizen  of  the  United  States,  together  with 
copies  of  a  correspondence  relating  to  a  subject  in  which  your 
Majesty,  alike  distinguished  for  generous  liberality  in  social 
and  political  affairs  as  a  sovereign,  as  well  as  an  ardent  ad- 
mirer of  science  and  of  literature,  will  doubtless  feel  a  lively 
interest. 

"  The  undersigned  is  happy  to  be  the  medium  through 
which  those  papers  reach  the  eye  of  your  Majesty,  feeling 
sensible  that  their  perusal  will  furnish  occasion  to  your 
Majesty  to  recur  with  much  national  pleasure  to  the  act  of 
one  of  your  illustrious  predecessors  as  a  distinguished  patron 
of  science  j  and  this  recurrence  to  the  eminent  position  that 
Denmark  has  attained  in  the  arts  and  the  sciences  may  perhaps 
not  be  the  less  pleasurable  from  the  fact  that  the  trophy  of 
science  to  which  the  papers  allude  was  achieved  on  the  very 
coast  where,  as  far  back  as  the  tenth  century,  the  intrepidity 
and  enterprise  of  your  Majesty's  Scandinavian  ancestors  first 
discovered  and  planted  a  colony  upon  the  great  western 
continent. 


CORRESPONDENCE  289 

"The  undersigned  therefore  hopes  that,  after  a  careful 
examination  of  the  accompanying  papers,  from  which  it 
would  seem  to  be  admitted  that  Miss  Mitchell,  of  the  United 
States,  is  entitled  to  the  honor  of  first  discovering  the  tele- 
scopic comet  bearing  her  name,  your  Majesty  will  not  be  able 
to  perceive  in  that  commendable  delicacy  which  forbade  her 
hastily  seeking  public  notoriety  a  sufficient  motive  for  with- 
holding from  her  the  reward  of  her  eminent  discovery ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  will  direct  the  medal  to  be  awarded  to  her, 
not  only  as  a  suitable  encouragement  to  her  distinguished 
scientific  attainments,  but  also  as  evincing  your  Majesty's  appre- 
ciation of  that  beautiful  virtue  which  withheld  her  from  rush- 
ing into  public  and  scientific  renown  merely  to  comply  with  a 
purely  technical  condition. 

•"The  undersigned,  American  charg£  d'affaires,  gladly 
improves  this  very  pleasant  occasion  to  tender  to  your 
Majesty  the  expression  of  his  high  and  most  distinguished 
consideration. 

[Signed]  "R.  P.  FLENIKEN. 

"To   his  Majesty  FREDERIC  VII.,  King    of  Denmark,  Duke 
of  Schleswig  and  Holstein." 


THE  COUNT  DE  KNUTH  TO  MR.  FLENIKEN. 

"  Copenhague,  ce  6  Octobre,  1848. 

"  MONSIEUR  :  J'ai  eu  1'honneur  de  recevoir  votre  office  du  6 
du  passe,  par  lequel  vous  avez  exprim£  le  desir  que  la  medaille 
institute  par  feu  le  Roi  Frederic  VI.,  en  recompense  de  la 
decouverte  de  cometes  telescopiques,  fut  accordee  a  Mile. 
Maria  Mitchell,  de  Nantucket  dans  les  EtatsUnis  d'Amerique. 

"  Apres  avoir  examine  les  pieces  justificatives  que  vous 
avez  bien  voulu  me  communiquer  relativement  a  cette  re- 
clamation, je  ne  saurais  que  partager  votre  avis,  Monsieur, 


2QO  MARIA    MITCHELL 

qu'il  parait  hors  de  doute  que  la  d^couverte  de  la  comete 
en  question  est  effectivement  due  aux  savantes  recherches 
de  Mile.  Mitchell ;  et  que  ce  n'est  que  faute  de  n'avoir  pas 
observe  les  formalite"s  prescrites,  qu'elle  n'a  point  jusqu'ici 
recu  une  marque  de  distinction  a  laquelle  elle  parait  avoir  de 
si  justes  titres. 

"  Le  savant  astronome,  le  Professeur  Schumacher,  ayant 
egalement  recommande"  Mile.  Mitchell  a  la  faveur  qu'elle 
sollicite  maintenant,  je  me  suis  empre,sse"  de  referer  cette 
question  au  roi,  mon  auguste  maitre,  en  mettant  en  meme 
temps  sous  les  yeux  de  sa  Majeste"  la  lettre  que  vous  lui  avez 
addressee  a  ce  sujet;  et  c'est  avec  bien  du  plaisir  que  je 
me  vois  aujourd'hui  a  meme  de  vous  faire  part,  Monsieur, 
que  sa  Majest£  n'a  point  he"sit£  a  satisfaire  a  votre  demande, 
en  accordant  a  Mile.  Mitchell  la  m£daille  qu'elle  ambitionne. 

"  Aussitot  que  cette  m£daille  sera  frappe"e,  je  m'empresse- 
rai  de  vous  la  faire  parvenir. 

"En  attendant  je  saisis  avec  bien  du  plaisir  cette  occasion 
pour  vous  renouveler,  Monsieur,  les  assurances  de  ma  con- 
sideration tres  distinguee. 

"  F.  W.  KNUTH. 

"X   MONSIEUR   FLENIKEN,  Charge"    d' Affaires   des  Etats  Unis 
d'Amerique." 

TRANSLATION. 

"  Copenhagen,  6th  October,  1848. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  communication 
of  the  6th  ultimo,  in  which  you  express  the  desire  that  the 
medal  instituted  by  his  late  Majesty,  Frederic  VI.,  as  a 
reward  for  the  discovery  of  telescopic  comets,  should  be 
granted  to  Miss  Maria  Mitchell,  of  Nantucket,  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 


CORRESPONDENCE  29 1 

"  On  examination  of  the  justificatory  pieces  which  you 
have  been  good  enough  to  forward  me,  relating  to  her  claim, 
I  cannot  do  otherwise  than  participate  in  your  opinion,  sir, 
that  it  would  appear  to  admit  of  no  doubt  that  the  dis- 
covery of  the  comet  in  question  was  really  due  to  Miss 
Mitchell's  learned  researches ;  and  that  her  not  having  as  yet 
received  a  mark  of  distinction  to  which  she  seems  to  have 
such  a  just  claim  was  entirely  owing  to  her  not  having 
observed  the  prescribed  forms. 

"The  learned  astronomer,  Professor  Schumacher,  having 
likewise  recommended  Miss  Mitchell  to  the  favor  which  she 
now  solicits,  I  hasten  to  refer  this  question  to  the  king,  my 
august  master,  at  the  same  time  laying  before  His  Majesty  the 
letter  which  you  have  addressed  to  him  on  this  subject ;  and  I 
have  much  pleasure  in  being  now  enabled  to  inform  you,  sir, 
that  His  Majesty  has  not  hesitated  to  grant  your  request 
by  awarding  to  Miss  Mitchell  the  medal  which  she  desires. 

"  As  soon  as  this  medal  is  struck,  I  will  have  it  forwarded 
to  you,  and.  meanwhile  have  much  pleasure  in  availing  myself 
of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  you,  sir,  the  assurances  of  my 
most  distinguished  consideration. 

[Signed]  "  F.  W.  KNUTH. 

"  To  MR.  FLENIKEN,  Charge"  d' Affaires  of  the  United  States  of 
America." 


MR.    FLENIKEN   TO   THE    COUNT   DE   KNUTH. 

"  Legation  des  Etats  Unis  d'Amerique,  "I 
a  Copenhague,  le  7  Octobre,  1848.  J 

"  MONSIEUR  :  Le  soussigne"  a  eu  Phonneur  de  recevoir 
Poffice  que  votre  Excellence  lui  a  addresse"  en  date  d'hier  pour 
lui  faire  part  de  la  nouvelle  heureuse  que  sa  Majeste",  apres 
avoir  examine"  les  documents  que  vous  avez  bien  voulu  lui 


2Q2  MARIA    MITCHELL 

soumettre,  ayant  pour  objet  d'e"tablir  le  fait  que  Mile. 
Mitchell  ait  la  premiere  decouvert  la  comete  te"lescopique 
d'Octobre  de  1'an  dernier,  a  bien  voulu  trouver  ces  preuves 
suffisantes,  et  a  ordonne"  qu'on  frappe  une  me"daille,  afin  de  la 
lui  faire  presenter  comme  une  marque  de  distinction  que  sa 
Majeste"  croit  qu'elle  me"rite  en  effet,  quoiqu'elle  n'ait  pas 
rigoureusement  observe"  les  formalite"s  prescrites  par  le  Roi 
Fre"d£ric  VI.,  fondateur  de  ce  don. 

"  Le  soussigne"  s'empresse  done  d'assurer  votre  Excellence 
et  en  meme  temps  de  vous  prier,  Monsieur,  de  vouloir  bien 
faire  parvenir  cette  assurance  a  sa  Majeste",  que  cet  acte 
signale"  de  liberalite"  ne  peut  manquer  d'etre  dignement  et 
hautement  appre"cie"  par  les  institutions  scientifiques  des  Etats 
Unis,  par  Mile.  Mitchell  qui  est  1'objet  de  cette  distinction 
ge"ne"reuse,  et  par  les  nombreux  amis  scientifiques  de  cette 
dame ;  enfin,  par  tous  ceux  qui  prennent  de  1' hit  e"  ret  a  la 
re~ussite  heureuse  des  recherches  astronomiques. 

"  Le  soussigne"  ne  peut  terminer  cette  communication  sans 
exprimer  a  votre  Excellence  (en  la  priant  de  porter  aussi  ses 
sentiments  a  la  connaissance  de  sa  Majeste")  sa  vive  appre"cia- 
tion  de  ce  noble  et  e"clatant  acte  de  justice,  si  promptement  et 
si  ge"ne"reusement  rendu  a  sa  jeune  compatriote  par  le  roi  de 
Danemark,  et  il  saisit  avec  empressement  cette  occasion  de 
renouveler  a  votre  Excellence  les  assurances  de  sa  conside"ra- 
tion  tres  distingue"e. 

"R.  P.  FLENIKEN. 

"A  Son  Excellence  M.  LE  COMTE  DE  KNUTH,  Ministre  d'Etat 
et  Chef  du  Department  des  Affaires  Etrangeres." 


CORRESPONDENCE  293 

TRANSLATION. 

"  Legation  of  the  United  States,  "I 
Copenhagen,  October  7th,  1848. J 

"  SIR  :  The  undersigned  has  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  your  Excellency's  communication  of  yesterday's 
date,  conveying  to  him  the  gratifying  intelligence  that  His 
Majesty,  from  an  examination  of  the  evidence  which  you 
obligingly  laid  before  him,  tending  to  establish  the  fact  of 
Miss  Mitchell's  having  discovered  the  telescopic  comet  of 
October,  last,  has  been  pleased  to  consider  it  quite  satisfactory, 
and  has  ordered  a  medal  to  be  struck  for  her  as  a  mark  of 
distinction  to  which  his  Majesty  deems  her  entitled,  notwith- 
standing her  omission  to  comply  with  the  prescribed  conditions 
of  Frederic  VI.,  who  instituted  the  donation. 

"The  undersigned,  therefore,  begs  to  express  to  you,  sir, 
and  through  you  to  His  Majesty,  the  assurance  that  this 
eminent  act  of  liberality  cannot  fail  to  be  duly  and  highly 
appreciated  by  the  scientific  institutions  of  his  own  country, 
by  Miss  Mitchell  herself,  who  is  the  object  of  this  generous 
distinction,  and  by  her  numerous  scientific  friends,  as  well 
as  by  all  who  feel  an  interest  in  successful  astronomical 
achievements. 

"The  undersigned  cannot  close  this  communication  without 
expressing  to  you  and  to  the  king  his  own  unaffected  appre- 
ciation of  this  noble  and  distinguished  act  of  justice,  so 
promptly  and  so  generously  bestowed  upon  his  unobtrusive 
countrywoman  by  the  king  of  Denmark,  and  avails  himself 
of  the  occasion  to  renew  to  your  Excellency  the  assurance  of 
his  most  distinguished  consideration. 

[Signed]  "R.  P.  FLENIKEN. 

"To    His  Excellency  THE    COUNT   DE   KNUTH,   Minister  of 
State,  etc.,  etc.,  etc." 


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